adj ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   people who are fearful and cautious wordnet

Adjective

1. 1
   Lacking in courage or confidence.

   "John's a very timid person. I doubt he'll be brave enough to face his brother."

Adjective

1. 1
   showing fear and lack of confidence wordnet
2. 2
   lacking conviction or boldness or courage wordnet
3. 3
   lacking self-confidence wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

timorousbashfulcoydiffidentfearfulintimidated

Antonyms

All antonyms

adventurousaggressivebellicoseconfident

Example

More examples

"Generally speaking, we Japanese are a little too timid in speaking foreign languages."

Etymology

From Middle French timide, from Latin timidus (“full of fear, fearful, timid”), from timeō (“I fear”).

Related phrases

timid as a mousetimid as a rabbit

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.