nonassertive

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of nonassertive People who knew Zhang described him to police as a nonassertive man who avoided conflict and typically acquiesced to his wife. Los Angeles Times, 14 June 2021 Those who saw an assertive ad chose to allocate $7 of the gift card to the brand on average, compared with $14 for those who saw a nonassertive ad. Alina Dizik, WSJ, 16 May 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nonassertive
Adjective
  • With questions that are thoughtful without feeling heavy, the game helps kids practice communication skills and confidence in a low-pressure way.
    Emily Glover, Parents, 2 Oct. 2025
  • When wind hits a spinning rotor, the air accelerates on the side rotating with the wind, creating a low-pressure zone.
    Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 1 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • The former is quietly involving: unhurried, unemphatic, observant.
    Mark Feeney, BostonGlobe.com, 4 Nov. 2021
  • The beat is steady and usually unemphatic; the song circles through three chords again and again.
    Jon Pareles, New York Times, 6 July 2018
Adjective
  • Accommodating, which is unassertive and cooperative, prioritizes the needs and preferences of others over one’s own in order to maintain harmony.
    Ellen Choi, Forbes, 10 Mar. 2025
  • Shy and unassertive, she’s often been overlooked by others and kept to herself.
    Yasmine AlSayyad, The New Yorker, 9 Jan. 2023
Adjective
  • Chipotle and adobo give it a gentle heat and depth, while the green chiles add a mild tang.
    Kimberly Holland, Southern Living, 5 Oct. 2025
  • When to Visit Spring and fall are Capitol Reef’s prime travel times, with milder temperatures and less monsoon risk.
    Stephanie Vermillion, Travel + Leisure, 5 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Abiotic sulfide production at low temperatures is extremely sluggish, according to Tice.
    Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 3 Oct. 2025
  • Clot formation is a health risk arising from sluggish blood flow through the veins.
    Bryant Stamford, Louisville Courier Journal, 2 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Life is mysterious and ambiguous, and so the film to us, is a beautiful representation of that type of experience that is just not captured very often in movies.
    Glenn Garner, Deadline, 1 Oct. 2025
  • For over a century, the United States has coercively maintained the base against the wishes of the Cuban government, an arrangement prompting political and legal debates surrounding the territory’s ambiguous sovereignty.
    Miriam Pensack, The Dial, 30 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Unlike Bacalar, which is relatively new to tourism, Tulum has been transformed from a sleepy backwater into a pumping party town.
    Simon Willis, Travel + Leisure, 5 Oct. 2025
  • Most days are quiet in Armenia’s sleepy southern province of Syunik.
    Michele Crestani, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Selena Gomez as Mabel Mora Gomez earned an Emmy nomination for her role as Mabel, a guarded and sarcastic millennial who strikes up an unexpected friendship with Charles and Oliver.
    Olivia Singh, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025
  • Our spirits remain guarded, but high, for this one; the Venice Film Festival crowd seemed to eat it up.
    Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 3 Sep. 2024

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Nonassertive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nonassertive. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!