Synonyms of timidity

timidity

noun

as in hesitation

lack of willingness to assert oneself and take risks

none of the scouts showed the least timidity about rappeling down the cliff

Synonyms & Similar Words

• hesitation
• fear
• concern
• worry
• anxiety
• timidness
• timorousness
• faintheartedness
• restraint
• apprehension
• bashfulness
• shyness
• embarrassment
• inhibition
• indecision
• irresolution
• panic
• indecisiveness
• cowardice
• skittishness
• constraint
• dismay
• discomposure
• upset
• cowardliness
• irresoluteness
• alarm
• cravenness
• spinelessness

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• boldness
• audacity
• nerve
• confidence
• assurance
• guts
• self-confidence
• nonchalance
• composure
• determination
• insouciance
• coolness
• unconcern
• resolution
• fortitude
• audaciousness
• courage
• decisiveness
• cojones
• firmness
• grit
• self-assurance
• resoluteness
• fearlessness
• gumption
• mettle
• fiber
• bravery
• backbone
• spunk
• self-assertiveness
• daring
• valor
• intrepidity
• gameness
• temerity
• effrontery
• brazenness
• gall
• cheek
• intrepidness
• courageousness
• gutsiness
• dauntlessness
• doughtiness

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of timidity

Choices, of course, have to be made, and timidity won’t get the job done. — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2026

The complaint of timidity could be read as a criticism of 79-year-old Congressman Bobby Scott of Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the Education and Workforce Committee and panel’s chair when the party was in the majority. — Mark Pazniokas, Hartford Courant, 6 Sep. 2026

My mother was never one for parting phrases, mainly because she was overwhelmed by a form of timidity that verged on self-erasure. — Literary Hub, 26 Aug. 2026

There are those who would write her off, and perhaps her timidity before America’s facilitation of Gaza’s destruction has earned that dismissal. — Ta-Nehisi Coates, Vanity Fair, 15 June 2026

Their boldness reminds us of our timidity. — Joy Harden Bradford, AJC.com, 4 June 2026

But what is different about the downfall of Starmer, which is now under way, has been the timidity of his premiership, its chronic self-doubt, as if its voice were permanently stuck in its throat. — Sam Knight, New Yorker, 14 May 2026

But our delay and our timidity continue to cause unimaginable human suffering. — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 13 Apr. 2026

But German timidity before Israel’s moral blackmail only partly explains Habermas’s callous attitude toward the country’s Palestinian victims. — Sean Williams, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026