as in meek
not talking or behaving in a loud and confident way
a modest, unassertive person an unassertive manner
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Recent Examples of unassertive
Avoiding is unassertive and uncooperative, where an individual tends to give up on their own needs and acquiesce to the desires of others by disengaging from the situation altogether.
—
Ellen Choi, Forbes, 10 Mar. 2025
Accommodating, which is unassertive and cooperative, prioritizes the needs and preferences of others over one’s own in order to maintain harmony.
—Ellen Choi, Forbes, 10 Mar. 2025
Shy and unassertive, she’s often been overlooked by others and kept to herself.
—Yasmine Alsayyad, The New Yorker, 9 Jan. 2023
After a time, Patterson’s play-it-down-the-middle approach feels less like the remembrances of a Renaissance man and more like evasive, unassertive hedging.
—Mark Athitakis, Washington Post, 6 June 2022
The sun, only rarely in evidence behind gray clouds, set quickly and bade us an unassertive farewell.
—Washington Post, 1 Jan. 2022
My own thoughts have been along the line of weak, unassertive, super humble and timid.
—Glenna Christensen, idahostatesman, 14 June 2018
Meryl Streep stars as Post owner Katherine Graham, an unassertive socialite who normally follows the journalistic lead of her editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks, playing it too cute).
—John Powers, Vogue, 13 Dec. 2017
Ellen Choi, Forbes, 10 Mar. 2025
Accommodating, which is unassertive and cooperative, prioritizes the needs and preferences of others over one’s own in order to maintain harmony.
—Ellen Choi, Forbes, 10 Mar. 2025
Shy and unassertive, she’s often been overlooked by others and kept to herself.
—Yasmine Alsayyad, The New Yorker, 9 Jan. 2023
After a time, Patterson’s play-it-down-the-middle approach feels less like the remembrances of a Renaissance man and more like evasive, unassertive hedging.
—Mark Athitakis, Washington Post, 6 June 2022
The sun, only rarely in evidence behind gray clouds, set quickly and bade us an unassertive farewell.
—Washington Post, 1 Jan. 2022
My own thoughts have been along the line of weak, unassertive, super humble and timid.
—Glenna Christensen, idahostatesman, 14 June 2018
Meryl Streep stars as Post owner Katherine Graham, an unassertive socialite who normally follows the journalistic lead of her editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks, playing it too cute).
—John Powers, Vogue, 13 Dec. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unassertive
Adjective
-
According to the latest report from L.A.’s film office, production days on location decreased more than 22 percent in the first quarter of 2025 compared with an already meek period in 2024.—
Katie Kilkenny,
HollywoodReporter,
2 May 2025
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Democrats, unable either to diagnose or to admit to their own failings, measured their victories in the meekest of triumphs, and seemed to have lost all sense of purpose, direction, and proportion.—
Jill Lepore,
New Yorker,
28 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Netflix 19 of 20 A Tale of Two Kitchens (2019) The modest length of this short — which clocks in at 30 minutes — reflects its humble attitude.—
Katie Rife,
EW.com,
11 May 2025
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Flatten It Out Sea turtles don't have much mobility on land, and even the humblest sand structure can be a major obstacle to nesting females making their way across the sand or to hatchlings heading back toward the water.—
Katie Akin,
Southern Living,
10 May 2025
Adjective
-
As one sign of the modest pace of progress, just 2,021 permits to install new heating and cooling systems have been filed since 2017.—
Jonathan Bowles,
New York Daily News,
9 May 2025
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The news sent stock indexes to their highest levels in weeks, before ending the day with more modest gains.—
Danielle Chemtob,
Forbes.com,
9 May 2025
Adjective
-
The Makos athletes also noticed that their parents were timid around water.—
Tribune News Service,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
6 May 2025
-
Haney looked timid and afraid for the first four rounds before finding his legs and winning a unanimous decision in a lackluster fight with Jose Ramirez.—
Brian Mazique,
Forbes.com,
4 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unassertive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unassertive. Accessed 20 May. 2025.
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