timidity
Americannoun
-
timidities
plural
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of timidity
First recorded in 1510–20; from Latin timiditās, equivalent to timid(us) + -i- connecting vowel + -tās noun suffix; see timid ( def. ), -i- ( def. ), -ty 2 ( def. )
Explanation
Do you suffer from timidity? If so, you probably feel uneasy in new places and situations. You might fear having to make decisions. But as you get more comfortable, your timidity will go away. The noun timidity is related to the Latin word timidus, from timere, meaning “to fear.” In fact, fear is often a cause of timidity — fear of the unknown, fear of not knowing what to do. For example, you might experience timidity in visiting a country for the first time because you aren't sure of the local customs or you don't speak the language well. Because you are afraid of embarrassing yourself, you hold back.
Vocabulary lists containing timidity
The Devil's Arithmetic
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Litotes from Top AP English Exam Novels
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"Growing Up Asian in America"
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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:
And no one is better equipped to ignore counsels of timidity than Mr. Trump.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
That linguistic timidity —our inability to name what’s happening — is itself a form of complicity, and the result of a combination of fear and fecklessness.
From Salon ● Nov. 13, 2025
But this is not the time for judicial timidity.
From Slate ● Feb. 13, 2025
He spoke about a lack of intensity, desire and warned against timidity.
From BBC ● May 10, 2024
“You go, dear, I’ll keep Jolene company until her mother comes for her,” Mrs. Clutter said, and then, addressing the child with unconquerable timidity, added, “If Jolene doesn’t mind keeping me company.”
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
What Are We to Do?, a study of the "rise and fall" of the British labor movement, is an urbane, inquisitional chronicle of missed opportunities, compromises, retreats, timidities, defeats.
From Time Magazine Archive
This culmination of a series of sentimental and financial timidities seemed to me to indicate that the Board was not acting fearlessly for the best interests of the students.
From Time Magazine Archive
But few will fail to join in the familiar battlecry of her hedonism: "Away with hypocrisies, timidities, doubts!"
From Time Magazine Archive
But it takes a typically Victorian literary license to account for the difference between the groping timidities of Albert Grope and the caustic, scrupulous and sometimes slightly patronizing style of his more mature meditations.
From Time Magazine Archive
Most timidities have such secret compensations, and Miss Bart was discerning enough to know that the inner vanity is generally in proportion to the outer self-depreciation.
From House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
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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.
