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:
After Mika Baur swept Celtic in front on 47 minutes, they went into their shells and succumbed to a timid 2-1 defeat as Javi Rodriguez struck twice in three minutes.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
Known for his gruff vocals, LaMontagne first came to the scene in the early aughts as a timid troubadour.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
The long story short is that we haven’t traveled very far thematically since Thomas Jefferson said that timid men prefer despotism — although that was around 250 years ago.
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2026
That was timid, but at least he didn’t endorse Mr. Mamdani’s arrest threat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Two—full name: Twenty Thousand Three Hundred and Fifty-Two— flashed a timid smile.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
He was far, far timider than they thought!'
From Hard Times by Charles Dickens
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
She'd eat me," said the spider, "and, anyhow, the competition on the wall is dreadful, and the flies are getting wiser and timider every season.
From The Crock of Gold by James Stephens
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
Clark!" said Potts, "you're getting timider and timider.
From Cord and Creese by James De Mille
As a rule, extreme vanity makes the timidest very bold in speaking.
From The Recollections of Alexis de Tocqueville by Alexis de Tocqueville
But the dragons are dead and converted into poor fossil ichthyosauruses, incapable of biting the timidest damsel or the most corpulent knight that ever came out of the Stock Exchange.
From G. K. Chesterton, A Critical Study by Julius West
The timidest one will turn and fight with every sign of fury.
From Outwitting Our Nerves A Primer of Psychotherapy by Josephine A. Jackson
I like to know what two observing eyes saw and the feelings that sometimes made the timidest heroes—sometimes cravens.
From The Iron Game A Tale of the War by Henry F. (Henry Francis) Keenan
With a great cry of the soul to that God it yearned and felt for through all the darkness and ruin which encompassed it, he laid his hand on hers with the timidest passing touch.
From Robert Elsmere by Mrs. Humphry Ward
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
