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timidity

[tim-id]

Example Sentences Origin

adjective, -er, -est.

lacking in self-assurance, courage, or bravery; easily alarmed; timorous; shy.

characterized by or indicating fear: a timid approach to a problem.

Origin:
1540–50; < Latin timidus fearful, equivalent to tim(ēre) to fear + -idus -id⁴

Related forms

ti·mid·i·ty, tim·id·ness, noun

tim·id·ly, adverb

o·ver·tim·id, adjective

o·ver·tim·id·ly, adverb

o·ver·tim·id·ness, noun

EXPAND

o·ver·ti·mid·i·ty, noun

un·tim·id, adjective

un·tim·id·ly, adverb

un·tim·id·ness, noun

COLLAPSE

Synonyms
1. fearful, fainthearted. See cowardly.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To timidity

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Timidity is always a great word to know.

So is ort. Does it mean:

a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.

a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.

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Example Sentences

No one believes, for instance, that there is a single gene for timidity but rather a host of genetic influences.

The budget's timidity is a reminder of the nasty decisions greenery will henceforth entail.

The decision will test whether responsibility overrides timidity.

EXPAND

No one believes, for instance, that there is a single gene for timidity but rather a host of genetic influences.

The budget's timidity is a reminder of the nasty decisions greenery will henceforth entail.

The decision will test whether responsibility overrides timidity.

Timidity in the face of a noisy road lobby meant that cameras had to be sited only on roads that had seen several fatal accidents.

The prevailing spirit of the session, on one side and on the other, has been that of timidity.

The local press has pilloried the government for its timidity.

The notoriety of to-day he not only despises--he shrinks from it with the timidity of a born scholar.

Despite all this, merger plans may be thwarted by the timidity of local rulers.

The timidity is all the more surprising considering the source material.

But there is a strong case that the timidity of the initial response fueled the need for subsequent interventions.

And no one ever critized the former world champion for timidity at the board.

Since then the government's handling of the project has been marked by delay, indecision and timidity.

The agency's timidity will invite even greater abuse of tax and election law by moneyed parties.

At a global level, the answer is surely that boldness beats timidity.

Among the obstacles in her way are her headlong romance with a vacationing football player and her own timidity.

His personal popularity is not due to any timidity in tackling reform, either.

American executives also cannot show timidity in the face of supposed anti-Americanism.

In truth it is not speculation but indecision and timidity that are at fault.

The authority's timidity is as deplorable as its venture into censorship.

Her patients are mostly punk: young people whose presumed fashion malaise does not mean fashion timidity.

Is there some inherent power or stigma to female that spawns timidity in the writers of the.

But imprisoned by timidity they squandered a golden age.

Fear of unknown terrors is deeply engraved in the human psyche from the days when craven timidity was the ticket to survival.

Rollins's improvisations sandblasting an opponent into timidity.

The next day he was determined to ask her out as he headed to the gym, but his timidity got the better of him.

For many, timidity around new people is a temporary response to stresses at home.

The timidity of the performances eventually makes the play itself seem timid.

Yet there is a difference between self-effacing service to the music and expressive timidity.

The lobster in a bisque receded into the background, demonstrating the same timidity as the lobster in an over-dressed salad.

Japan by lousy demography and monetary timidity that is now deeply ingrained in expectations.

As a result, the thinking goes, frustrated voters rejected the party for its timidity.

Neither performer upstages the other, but the admirable film is weakened by timidity or a lack of skill.

Oshima's reputation had suffered from the increasing timidity of art-house tastes:.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

timid (ˈtɪmɪd)

—*adj*
1.	easily frightened or upset, esp by human contact; shy
2.	indicating shyness or fear

[C16: from Latin timidus, from timēre to fear]

ti'midity

—n

'timidness

—n

'timidly

—*adv*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

timid

1549, from M.Fr. timide "easily frightened, shy," from L. timidus "fearful," from timere "to fear."

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Related Words

cowardly heroism mealy-mouthed

mealy-mouthed old-womanish

Matching Quote

"Timidity keeps me safe and sad in a narrow room."

-Mason Cooley

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