timidly

adverb

Definition of timidlynext
as in fearfully

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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 timidly Some believe that Barack Obama acted too timidly when Republicans refused to co-sign a letter warning of Russian interference in that campaign. — David Weigel, semafor.com, 2 Nov. 2026 Around me, hands reach up timidly and then with more confidence, and then they are accompanied by applause that drifts from one side of the room to the other and back. — Sam Kestenbaum, Harpers Magazine, 27 Oct. 2026 After they were patted down, the women timidly entered the small space, sitting side-by-side in salon chairs to wait for Dastine and her two assistants to assess their hair. — Elizabeth Gulino, Allure, 8 Oct. 2026 The rest of the Soviet delegation stamped their feet, and even Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko removed and timidly tapped his shoe in solidarity. — Britannica Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, 5 Oct. 2026 Yet authorities have moved extraordinarily slowly and timidly. — Carl Minzner, Foreign Affairs, 5 Oct. 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
  1. fearfully
  2. shyly
  3. obsequiously
  4. bashfully
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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Cite this Entry

“Timidly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/timidly. Accessed 13 Nov. 2026.

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