# timorous

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈtɪməɹəs/

## Definitions
1. Tending to be easily frightened; shy, timid.
2. 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.

## Etymology
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.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/timorous