timidity

[ ti-mid-i-tee ]

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.

Other Words From

• o·ver·tim·id·ness noun
• o·ver·ti·mid·i·ty noun
• un·tim·id·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of timidity¹

First recorded in 1510–20; from Latin timiditās, equivalent to timid(us) + -i- connecting vowel + -tās noun suffix; timid ( def ), -i- ( def ), -ty ²( def )

Example Sentences

Though their approach was conservative, it shouldn’t be seen as timid.

From FiveThirtyEight

Another memorable moment is when a decision to punt by the warden’s team is described by announcers as “kind of a timid or a chicken kind of football.”

From FiveThirtyEight

For the first time at any presidential or vice-presidential debate, a nominee said that their administration would “decriminalize marijuana” — a winner in polls that other Democrats have been timid about discussing.

From Washington Post

Davis played a timid housewife who goes road-tripping with her not-at-all timid friend, played by Susan Sarandon.

From Freakonomics

Mailer would argue, for example, that timidity does more harm to the novelist than donning a mask of extreme self-confidence.

From The Daily Beast

Winograd and Hais see millennial timidity as a mostly temporary phenomena.

From The Daily Beast

American timidity towards Israel has certainly earned his criticism.

From The Daily Beast

They like boldness and despise the appearance of timidity and protracted doubt.

From The Daily Beast

There were those who lagged behind out of incomprehension, political calculation, or timidity.

From The Daily Beast

Setting aside timidity, we find that well-informed persons are sometimes‌ good listeners, but no talkers.

From Project Gutenberg

Entrusted with sixty thousand men with orders to make a vast turning movement, his timidity spoiled the Emperor's careful plans.

From Project Gutenberg

Age asks with timidity to be spared intolerable pain; youth, taking fortune by the beard, demands joy like a right.

From Project Gutenberg

As her children had to be defended, all her feminine timidity had disappeared and made way for a cold and energetic resolution.

From Project Gutenberg

Was it timidity, pride, or prudence which restrained me from all communication with the unfortunate and degraded of their sex?

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• cowardice