Timorous

/ˈtɪməɹəs/ · adjective

Meaning

Tending to be easily frightened; shy, timid..

Definitions by Sense

1. Tending to be easily frightened; shy, timid.
2. (archaic) Feeling fear; afraid, fearful, frightened.
3. Fastidious in dressing.
4. Fired with intense feeling; passionate.
5. Hard to manage; difficult, tiresome.
6. Causing dread or fear; dreadful, terrible.
7. Humble, modest; also, showing reverence; respectful, reverent, reverential.

Example Sentences

But thou now O temerous ⁊ weake ſely ſhepe, thynke yt ſufficient for thee, onely to walke after me, which am thy ſhepehearde ⁊ gouernor: […]

Thys faute of puſillanimitye and tymorous mynde, letteth a man alſo mani tymes from the doynge of manye good thynges, whyche (if he tooke a good ſtomake to hym in the truſt of Gods helpe) he were wel able to do.

[T]hey might thank themſelves onely, & their ovvn timerous conceits & imaginations, that ſuch things vvere ſo dread & terrible.

[I]n the ſtudy of the reign of Theodoſius [I], vve are reduced to illuſtrate the partial narrative of Zoſimus, by the obſcure hints of fragments and chronicles, by the figurative ſtyle of poetry or panegyric, and by the precarious aſſiſtance of the eccleſiaſtical vvriters, vvho, in the heat of religious faction, are apt to deſpiſe the profane virtues of ſincerity and moderation. Conſcious of theſe diſadvantages, vvhich vvill continue to involve a conſiderable portion of the decline and fall of the Roman empire, I ſhall proceed vvith doubtful and timorous ſteps.

VVee ſleekit, covvrin, tim'rous beaſtie, / Oh, vvhat a panic's in thy breaſtie!

Animals of the hare kind, like all others that feed entirely upon vegetables, are inoffenſive and timorous. As Nature furniſhes them vvith a moſt abundant ſupply, they have not that rapacity after food remarkable in ſuch as are often ſtinted in their proviſion.

His troops murmured at this timorous policy, and the people of the south, on whom the charges of the expeditions fell with peculiar heaviness, from their neighbourhood to the scene of the operations, complained that "the war was carried on against them, not against the infidel."

[I]n his later years, he [James II of England] repeatedly, at conjunctures such as have often inspired timorous and delicate women with heroic courage, showed a pusillanimous anxiety about his personal safety.

Synonyms for timorous

Antonyms for timorous

Related Words

Word Forms

• more timorous
• most timorous
• timerous
• timourous

Usage Notes

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