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View synonyms for shrinking violet

shrinking violet

noun

  1. a shy, modest, or self-effacing person.


shrinking violet

noun

  1. 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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Word History and Origins

Origin of shrinking violet1

First recorded in 1925–30
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Example Sentences

They are hardy — any flower that grows next to a freeway ain’t no shrinking violet.

"I always thought he'd be a future champion, but I've really seen him change from that shrinking violet who first stepped into my office," Warren reflects.

From BBC

The centenarian is remembered by his friends as a man with “impeccable diction” and gentle spirit, but he was no shrinking violet.

“I put up a fight because I’m not exactly a shrinking violet,” she says.

Her co-star Oliver Reed - hardly a shrinking violet himself - memorably described acting alongside her as like "being run over by a Bedford truck".

From BBC

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