adjective · rare

timorous

tim·or·ous

timorous · more timorous · most timorous

Tending to be easily frightenedTending to be easily frightened; shy, timid.

/ˈtɪməɹəs/

Meaning

7 senses

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

More definitions

timid by nature or revealing timidity

Origin

From Late Middle English timorous (“(adjective) fearful, frightened; causing fear, dreadfu

From Late Middle English timorous (“(adjective) fearful, frightened; causing fear, dreadful, terrible; deferential, modest; (noun) timid people collectively”), borrowed from Old French temoros, temorous, from Medieval Latin timōrōsus, from timōr- (the stem of Latin timor (“dread, fear”)) + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of; prone to’). Timor is derived from timeō (“to be afraid of, fear”) (further origin uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *temH- (“dark”)) + -or (suffix forming third-declension masculine abstract nouns). Doublet of timoroso.

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