timidity

American  

[ti-mid-i-tee] / tɪˈmɪd ɪ ti /

Sometimes timidness

noun

1. the state or quality of lacking in self-assurance, courage, or bravery.

   The stakes are too high for the officials charged with making decisions to succumb to timidity and refuse to act.

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Other Word Forms

• overtimidity
  noun
• overtimidness
  noun
• untimidness
  noun

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.

Example Sentences

“Clemency,” they argue, “is more important than ever in an era of grossly excessive punishments and mass incarceration. Timidity is not a path to legacy.”

From Slate • Nov. 12, 2024

Timidity may feel like a way of avoiding risk, but it's actually the riskiest strategy of all.

From Salon • Aug. 23, 2019

If Britain retreated from the tax policies that had provoked the Tea Party, they warned, the colonists would take this as "Proofs of our Weakness, Disunion and Timidity."

From Slate • Apr. 19, 2010

Timidity must not lead the scholar to stand silent when he ought to speak .

From Time Magazine Archive

Timidity in the Flight Research Division would get a girl nowhere.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

Related Words

• cowardice