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
But even Patton’s weather prayer looks timid next to Hegseth’s impious rage.
—
Tom Nichols, The Atlantic, 30 Mar. 2026
Brayden Burries shook off a timid start and provided just enough perimeter shooting.
—Jerry Brewer, New York Times, 29 Mar. 2026
Their smaller counterparts, alpacas, are more timid and shy, but the more independent ones that aren't afraid to be away from the herd do well as therapy animals.
—Kathleen Wong, USA Today, 22 Mar. 2026
Jerusalem, timid about the prospect of a land invasion, can only respond with more airstrikes until the regime hits its breaking point and the people rise up.
—Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 19 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for timid
Tom Nichols, The Atlantic, 30 Mar. 2026
Brayden Burries shook off a timid start and provided just enough perimeter shooting.
—Jerry Brewer, New York Times, 29 Mar. 2026
Their smaller counterparts, alpacas, are more timid and shy, but the more independent ones that aren't afraid to be away from the herd do well as therapy animals.
—Kathleen Wong, USA Today, 22 Mar. 2026
Jerusalem, timid about the prospect of a land invasion, can only respond with more airstrikes until the regime hits its breaking point and the people rise up.
—Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 19 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for timid
Recent Examples of Synonyms for timid
Adjective
-
Soto finished a triple shy of the cycle.—
James O'Connell,
New York Daily News,
30 Apr. 2026
-
The contest, which awards half of the pot to a winner and donates the other half to charity after expenses, has sold just shy of $350 million (C$472 million) in tickets since 2001, resulting in about $175 million (C$236 million) in prizes for residents of Alberta.—
Justin Birnbaum,
Sportico.com,
30 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
My agent, Marty Diamond, had to face down a steady stream of ‘no’s from fearful artist reps.—
Michael Schneider,
Variety,
27 Apr. 2026
-
The question of whether Balzac’s fear was real is perhaps less interesting than the work the story does to position the fearful encounter as simply a symptom of innovation.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
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
-
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
-
Just because there’s something scary down the hall, that doesn’t mean that being a good person doesn’t matter.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
4 May 2026
-
Makar took a scary hit along the boards from Foligno early in the first period.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
4 May 2026
Adjective
-
And yet, locals weren't scared off, blinded perhaps by their love of the game.—
Lee Cowan,
CBS News,
3 May 2026
-
To him, the gathering in New York was a sign of change, that people are curious enough to give it another look, and not too scared of the potential backlash.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
29 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Handsome Belgian executive Geert (Arieh Worthalter) regales an enthusiastic crowd with a yarn, while his mousy tech head Luc (Jan Hammenecker) demonstrates to what might be the world’s first speech-to-text technology.—
Siddhant Adlakha,
Variety,
15 Feb. 2026
-
Her name is Minnie, but her shyness leans toward the mousy, though no one would ever say that to her, least of all her beloved and extremely outgoing best friend, Callie (Chloe Coleman).—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
13 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Umpires, afraid of being overturned, or at least, more aware of the new zone and its limitations, have been calling fewer strikes.—
Ian Miller OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
29 Apr. 2026
-
Almost half are personally afraid of losing their job to AI, ranking it among the most acute individual stressors measured in the survey.—
Jessica Guynn,
USA Today,
28 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The key cabin crew are flight attendants Penny (Lucy Barrett) and Zoe (Na Shi), both of whom demonstrate bravery, to different ends, and show caring attention to the terrified children.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
28 Apr. 2026
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Though Ridley Scott works in a drastically different tone than the one John Carpenter brought to Dark Star, the two films share screenwriter Dan O’Bannon’s darkly comedic view of a future that has reduced humans to alternately bored and terrified cogs in larger machines.—
Keith Phipps,
Vulture,
23 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Timid.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/timid. Accessed 6 May. 2026.
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