A.Word.A.Day --timorous

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Sep 23, 2026

This week’s theme
Words with scene-stealing examples

This week’s words
soporiferous
misgiving
timorous

The Attack, 1899
The Russian doubleheaded eagle is attacking the maiden symbolizing Finland, trying to rob her of her book of laws

Art: Edvard Isto

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timorous

PRONUNCIATION:

(TIM-uhr-uhs)

MEANING:

adjective: Full of fear; timid.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin timor (fear), from timere (to fear). Earliest documented use: c. 1450.

USAGE:

“[Vladimir Yakunin, then president of Russian Railways,] explained to me that Russia had not invested heavily in high-speed trains out of deference to their neighbours, the Finns: Russia has a lot of Finnish visitors, he explained, but Finns are by nature timorous and he did not want to frighten them by giving them rides on trains that were too fast.”
Coming Face to Neck With Vladimir Putin; The Economist (London, UK); Mar 21, 2018.

See more usage examples of timorous in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Our conscience is not the vessel of eternal verities. It grows with our social life, and a new social condition means a radical change in conscience. -Walter Lippmann, journalist (23 Sep 1889-1974)

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