timid
Americanadjective
-
lacking in self-assurance, courage, or bravery; easily alarmed; timorous; shy.
- Synonyms:
- fainthearted, fearful
-
characterized by or indicating fear.
a timid approach to a problem.
adjective
-
easily frightened or upset, esp by human contact; shy
-
indicating shyness or fear
Synonym Usage
See cowardly.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of timid
First recorded in 1540–50; from Latin timidus “fearful,” equivalent to tim(ēre) “to fear” + -idus adjective suffix; see -id 4
Explanation
Timid means "overly cautious or fearful," like a timid driver who drives very slowly or avoids highways altogether. Timid comes from the Middle French word timide, meaning "easily frightened, shy." Those who are timid often worry that things will go wrong: a timid eater orders bland food to avoid the possibility not liking the flavor of something new, just as a timid partygoer talks to people he already knows, afraid that he won't be able to talk to strangers.
Vocabulary lists containing timid
The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 5
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The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
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Emotions on Display
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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.
See Examples For:
The intervening works offer a survey of how the timid painter in the first work blossomed into the assured artist in the second.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
But de Brouwer said the EU was "timid" about enforcing the law.
From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026
Perhaps too timid with the bat, England were unable to counter a pitch that appeared low and slow.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
Still the editor-in-chief of Runway, Miranda is working to smooth her edges to avoid causing a stir in an industry that no longer excuses mistreatment, even though her employees remain timid in her midst.
From Salon ● May 1, 2026
‘Well—’ The boy’s voice was timid and sullen.
From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers
The proximity of the farm had had the effect of scaring antelopes and gazelles and the timider animals away from the neighbourhood.
From Settlers and Scouts by Herbert Strang
The tenderer and the timider of creatures Often desert the brood that has been handled, Or turned about, or indiscreetly looked at.
From The Young Lady's Mentor A Guide to the Formation of Character. In a Series of Letters to Her Unknown Friends by An English Lady
The timider of the guilty pair drank unwarily, not knowing what was offered to him, and fell into a fit of coughing.
From VC — A Chronicle of Castle Barfield and of the Crimea by David Christie Murray
But anon, imbued With a sudden, bounding access Of passion, it relaxes All timider persuasion.
From Dreams and Days: Poems by George Parsons Lathrop
He was far, far timider than they thought!'
From Hard Times by Charles Dickens
To give you a clue, recollect that he was the timidest of souls.
From Bunyan Characters (2nd Series) by Alexander Whyte
As a rule, extreme vanity makes the timidest very bold in speaking.
From The Recollections of Alexis de Tocqueville by Alexis de Tocqueville
Some of the musicians jumped off the key when they saw my face, and one or two of the timidest señoritas let out a screech or two.
From Roads of Destiny by O. Henry
They made Cornelia feel as much at home with them on the summit they had reached, as she felt with the timidest beginners in the Preparatory.
From The Coast of Bohemia by William Dean Howells
But there is an Aunt Milly that Anne didn't seem to know about and, Claire, she is human—the dearest, sweetest, prettiest, timidest little thing.
From Happy House by Jane D. Abbott
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.
