timorous

timorous (ˈtɪmərəs)

—*adj*
1.	fearful or timid
2.	indicating fear or timidity

[C15: from Old French temoros, from Medieval Latin timōrōsus, from Latin timor fear, from timēre to be afraid]

'timorously

—*adv*

'timorousness

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

timorous

mid-15c., from O.Fr. temeros (14c.), from M.L. timorosus "fearful," from L. timor "fear," from timere "to fear." Some early sense confused by mistaken identification with M.E. temerous "rash" (see temerity).

Example sentences

The censors are inevitably timorous, possibly cretinous bureaucrats blind or indifferent to art's necessities.

It attached itself to everything that was done order was enforced with no timorous authority.

We are becoming a nation of moles, timorous creatures who scurry through side and subterranean entrances.

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mousy nervous pusillanimous stout yellow

Matching Quote

"He was good-natured to a degree of weakness, even to tears, upon the slightest occasions. Exceedingly timorous, both personally and politically, dreading the least innovation, and keeping, with a scrupulous timidity, in the beaten track of business as having the safest bottom."

-Philip Dormer Stanhope Chesterfield, 4th Earl