shrinking violet
a shy, modest, or self-effacing person.
Origin of shrinking violet
1Words Nearby shrinking violet
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use shrinking violet in a sentence
Certainly no one who knows me would accuse me of being a shrinking violet.
Put before proper media scrutiny, the brash “Southern Avenger” is a shrinking violet.
What Rand Paul Aide Jack Hunter and His Resignation Say About His Boss | James Kirchick | July 23, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTDo you think Chris Christie, no shrinking violet, is going to let Geraldo cruise to the nomination?
Senator Geraldo Rivera? Seems Unlikely the Fox News Pundit Will Run | Howard Kurtz | February 2, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTNo shrinking violet, Gallagher likes the stage and will appear in a production of Love Letters with Sally Struthers this spring.
She makes one of those sandwich men with a bell, on Sixth Avenue, look like a shrinking violet!
Cheerful--By Request | Edna Ferber
"That modest, shrinking violet we hear of so often is a shrieking braggart alongside of our grand young crusader," he remarked.
Spring Street | James H. RichardsonThere was certainly nothing of the shrinking violet about this girl!
The Golden Amazons of Venus | John Murray ReynoldsNever had he been more eager to play the part of the shrinking violet.
The Rushton Boys at Rally Hall | Spencer DavenportFor a summary of his character one would not have used the phrase (as a contemporary of his remarked) of "a shrinking violet."
Mr. Crewe's Career, Complete | Winston Churchill
British Dictionary definitions for shrinking violet
informal a shy person
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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