adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of retiring
Explanation
If you are a retiring person, you avoid being at the center of attention. You can often be found in the library and other quiet places, and if someone compliments you, you're likely to blush and change the subject. If you call someone retiring, it isn't necessarily clear whether you mean it as a compliment or something closer to a put-down. Usually, the word is used to describe someone who is shy or modest to a fault. But it can also be used to suggest that someone isn't arrogant, which is usually a good thing. And, of course, retiring can also refer to someone who stepped down from their last job and doesn't intend to work anymore.
Vocabulary lists containing retiring
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He wore the mustache in honor of his father, Alan, a longtime police officer who also taught at Long Beach State before retiring.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
Republican Jon Bonck, in retiring Rep. Wesley Hunt’s seat, is worth about $2.3 million to $8.7 million.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026
And one in five Americans believes Social Security is all that’s necessary, even though it replaces only 40% of the average worker’s wages when retiring at age 65.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
Separately, Albertsons said its number-two executive, Sharon McCollam, is retiring later this year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Instead of coming back from Oxford after those twelve weeks, she’d stayed on to do a summer course, explaining that a professor she admired would be retiring after that.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
