TIMIDLY Synonyms: 59 Similar and Opposite Words

timidly

adverb

Definition of timidly

as in fearfully

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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 timidly By acting too timidly around its allies, Washington has missed opportunities. — Dafna H. Rand, Foreign Affairs, 4 Aug. 2026 The other photo shows two of the cubs huddled in a corner of a habitat, with one eyeing the camera timidly. — Rachel Raposas, PEOPLE, 6 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for timidly

Adverb

The child is fearfully looking behind him, as three Israeli soldiers approach.

— Mirin Fader, New York Times, 16 July 2026
He’s flanked by his wife, Princess Deidamia, who looks fearfully up at her husband’s encroaching enemies.

— News Desk, Artforum, 6 July 2026

Definition of fearfully

Adverb

Tristan, in the middle of putting down new wood shavings, looked at me shyly through the dust clouds.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 18 Sep. 2026
At one moment, the young prince glances down with his doe eyes before looking shyly off to the side at his mom and breaking out into a giggle.

— Christina Perrier, InStyle, 5 Aug. 2026

Definition of shyly

Adverb

Such a hearing is useful only because the players, Walz and Ellison, were grilled by people not obsequiously invested in them and who don’t hold back their accusations of malfeasance.

— Joe Soucheray, Twin Cities, 7 Mar. 2026
Doctrines and designs which a few years since could find no mouthpiece out of a bar-room, or the piratical den of a filibuster, are now clothed with power by the authentic response of the bench of our highest judicatory, and obsequiously iterated from the oracular recesses of the National Palace.

— Jake Lundberg, The Atlantic, 12 Feb. 2026

Definition of obsequiously

Adverb

The famously-outgoing point guard ducked her head bashfully as Huskies stars Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong shook her shoulders in celebration while freshman Kelis Fisher tossed a handful of confetti into her face.

— Emily Adams, Hartford Courant, 10 Mar. 2026
So Rizo, a little bashfully but mostly just with determination, heads right on back.

— Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2025

Definition of bashfully

Browse Nearby Words

timidity

timidly

timidness

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“Timidly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/timidly. Accessed 4 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of timidly

adverb

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