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
Related Words
See cowardly.
Other Word Forms
- overtimid adjective
- overtimidly adverb
- timidity noun
- timidly adverb
- timidness noun
- untimid adjective
- untimidly adverb
Etymology
Origin of timid
First recorded in 1540–50; from Latin timidus “fearful,” equivalent to tim(ēre) “to fear” + -idus adjective suffix; -id 4
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.
Yet with only two wickets lost there was the unerring sense that Zimbabwe's approach had been a little timid and they had left some runs out in the middle.
From BBC
What could the boy Rowan, the shy, timid herder of the bukshah, have to say?
From Literature
While McInnes named an attacking side, they looked timid in the build-up, struggling to stay calm in the typical chaos of an Edinburgh derby.
From BBC
“Ida?” she asked, like a doe would talk if it could, gentle and soft and a little timid.
From Literature
He’s long been interested in the mushrooms that sprout on the front lawn of his San Clemente home, but he’s always been too timid to pick any.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
