as in shy
easily frightened
a timid rabbit hopped cautiously out of the hedge
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of timid
Chances of Musk becoming the world’s first trillionaire were timid when the markets first opened on Kalshi.
—
Ananya Chetia, CNBC, 29 May 2026
Your favorite team probably doesn’t use them much, if at all, because they’re considered extremely difficult and most GMs are timid babies who are afraid of getting yelled at.
—Sean McIndoe, New York Times, 11 May 2026
Who wants to follow a timid leader, right?
—Aditya Simha, The Conversation, 7 May 2026
Kyōsei is not a strategy for the timid.
—Big Think, 7 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for timid
Ananya Chetia, CNBC, 29 May 2026
Your favorite team probably doesn’t use them much, if at all, because they’re considered extremely difficult and most GMs are timid babies who are afraid of getting yelled at.
—Sean McIndoe, New York Times, 11 May 2026
Who wants to follow a timid leader, right?
—Aditya Simha, The Conversation, 7 May 2026
Kyōsei is not a strategy for the timid.
—Big Think, 7 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for timid
Recent Examples of Synonyms for timid
Adjective
-
Now, Perez sits just five homers shy of breaking Brett’s all-time franchise mark for home runs as a Royal.—
Jaylon Thompson,
Kansas City Star,
19 June 2026
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Farrell, who also narrates in a soft voice, often wears a look of shy incomprehension, as if a beat behind in translating the world around him, a stranger in a strange land.—
Robert Lloyd,
Los Angeles Times,
19 June 2026
Adjective
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The bitcoin price has fallen sharply in recent months, with traders fearful a further bitcoin price crash could be looming.—
Billy Bambrough,
Forbes.com,
23 June 2026
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This finding specifically held true for people with fearful and preoccupied attachment styles, two subtypes of insecure attachment associated with a craving for intimacy but, respectively, a deep fear of it or a fear of rejection and abandonment.—
Rachel Nuwer,
Scientific American,
20 June 2026
Adjective
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The lesser among them, the timorous, the doubtful, and the wavering, stood back, watching, waiting for some greater sign, savoring their doubts.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
14 Oct. 2025
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The great danger of that moment was that a political backlash — abetted by a furious media and timorous politicians — would lead to a restoration of the policy of Roe.—
The Editors,
National Review,
24 June 2025
Adjective
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There were some scary moments at the nest earlier in the spring when viewers watched one of the eaglets, then just named USS 11, swallow a fishhook.—
Madeline Bartos,
CBS News,
22 June 2026
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Exciting but scary findings During another of the key microplastics studies published so far, researchers at the University of Rhode Island tested mice that had been modified to include a gene, APOE4, linked to Alzheimer’s disease.—
Michael Hawthorne,
Chicago Tribune,
21 June 2026
Adjective
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Still, farmworkers across the country are scared to go to work.—
Lisa Meierotto,
The Conversation,
22 June 2026
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In Utah, doctors continue to reassure scared patients and lobby for better public health policy.—
Devi Shastri,
Los Angeles Times,
20 June 2026
Adjective
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They are joined by Milo (Yeukayi Ushe), whose slippery jelly Tama escapes his control; Ameline (Evanna Lynch), Ssyelle’s mousy, enigmatic roommate; and Milo’s too-cool brother Odward (Waylon Jacobs).—
Allison McClain Merrill,
Parents,
8 June 2026
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Justine Skye took this mousy brown look to the next level by bleaching her brows to match.—
Kara Jillian Brown,
InStyle,
22 May 2026
Adjective
-
That's the part so many seem afraid to say out loud.—
Dan Zaksheske OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
23 June 2026
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The people who worked for cooperatives were particularly afraid.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
22 June 2026
Adjective
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Sunday, June 21, at a home in LaGrange, and the suspect’s 2-year-old daughter was among the terrified witnesses, the Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office said in court documents.—
Mark Price,
Charlotte Observer,
23 June 2026
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Psilocybin, in particular, appears to be highly effective for helping people with terminal illnesses feel less terrified of dying.—
Amanda Petrusich,
New Yorker,
22 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Timid.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/timid. Accessed 24 Jun. 2026.
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