as in bashfulness
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sheepishness
Noun
-
Scott was completing a yearlong master’s program in mathematics, and Noone, a doctoral candidate five years his senior, was charmed by the contrast between his good looks and his diffidence.—
Eren Orbey,
New Yorker,
13 Oct. 2025 -
And has done so with the kind of diffidence that can only come from a lifetime in the sports backwaters.—
Steven Zeitchik,
HollywoodReporter,
26 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Reverence for the past, and reluctance to destroy until the risks of destruction are fully known, is not timidity but wisdom, in architecture as in life.—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
25 Oct. 2025
-
The timidity of the tactics was utterly shameful.—
Steve Madeley,
New York Times,
6 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Although it’s still considered rare, it’s often misdiagnosed as shyness — which can delay treatment.—
Erin Silvia,
PEOPLE,
28 Oct. 2025
-
And the ego needed to overcome shyness and stage fright collides with the endless rejection that defines the profession.—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
20 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Would-be autocrats create environments of fear and powerlessness, using intimidation, overwhelming force or political and legal attacks, and other coercive tactics to force acquiescence and chill democratic pushback.—
Shelley Inglis,
The Conversation,
19 Oct. 2025
-
Yet, the lesson of the Voting Rights Act is that the response to these setbacks isn’t despair or acquiescence.—
Time,
Time,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Judges also review arbitration awards with a high degree of deference, meaning the side that loses the arbitration is often disincentivized to petition a judge to vacate the award.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
31 Oct. 2025
-
Heneghan and Peng’s approach was one of visual deference.—
Oscar Holland,
CNN Money,
31 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
In Killers of the Flower Moon, his Ernest Burkhart starts off as a mopey, weak-minded World War One veteran, eager to do anything for his godfather uncle (Robert De Niro), but there’s still a certain likability to his dim-bulb submissiveness.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
2 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Sublimity involves an element of passivity.—
Joshua Rothman,
New Yorker,
21 Oct. 2025
-
Think movement rather than stagnation, discussion rather than passivity.—
Meghan Rose,
Glamour,
1 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Still some commentators expressed wariness over the potential security and privacy implications following the Atlas launch.—
Alexei Oreskovic,
Fortune,
21 Oct. 2025
-
Higher long-term bond yields, meanwhile, suggest investor wariness over governments’ balance sheets.—
Ben Smith,
semafor.com,
17 Oct. 2025
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.
Cite this Entry
“Sheepishness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sheepishness. Accessed 8 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share