shrinking violet

American  

noun

1. a shy, modest, or self-effacing person.

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shrinking violet British  

noun

1. informal a shy person

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Etymology

Origin of shrinking violet

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

They both said you don't want "a shrinking violet".

From BBC • Dec. 22, 2025

They are hardy — any flower that grows next to a freeway ain’t no shrinking violet.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 16, 2024

Penelope is a shrinking violet, but she’s also a romantic tired of being underestimated and cast as unmarriageable.

From Salon • May 17, 2024

“Bobby’s not a shrinking violet, and Bobby made it extremely clear who he supported and why he supported him,” said Terry McGuirk, the team’s chairman and a decades-long fixture of sports management in Atlanta.

From New York Times • Oct. 20, 2021

I mean his pa was purt close to Pap’s size and his ma wasn’t no shrinking violet of a woman neither.

From "The Journey of Little Charlie" by Christopher Paul Curtis