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shrink
shrinking violet
A negative term for a very shy person. After years of being seen as nothing more than a shrinking violet, Christine decided to overcome her fears and start talking to strangers.
shrinking violet
Fig. someone who is very shy and not assertive. I am not exactly a shrinking violet, but I don't have the guts to say what you said to her.
a shrinking violet
a very shy person (usually negative) She's no shrinking violet. I wouldn't exactly describe him as a shrinking violet.
shrinking violet, a
An extremely shy person, as in She was a shrinking violet until she went away to college. This metaphoric idiom refers to the flower, but the precise allusion is unclear, since violets thrive under a variety of conditions and often are considered a garden weed. [Early 1900s]
shrink back
v. To draw back instinctively, as in alarm; recoil: The dog shrank back in fear when I raised my hand.
shrink from
v.1. To draw back instinctively from someone or something; recoil from someone or something: The cat shrank from my touch.
2. To show reluctance to engage in or do something; hesitate to perform something, especially out of fear: I will not shrink from my duty as captain to defend the ship. They will not shrink from prosecuting each of us if they catch us stealing.
shrink
n. a psychoanalyst or psychotherapist. I dropped a bundle on a shrink, but it didn’t help me.
shrinking violet
A shy person. The violet flower gives the impression of shyness, growing as it does close to the protective ground and often beneath other plants, shrubs and trees. Compared to other larger foliage, violets do seem to look as though they are shrinking, growing smaller. As applied to shy people, the phrase first appeared in both America and Great Britain in the 1820s.
Common Names:
| Name | Gender | Pronounced | Usage |
|---|
| Medad | | - | Biblical |
| Elea | | - | English |
| Bilbo | | BIL-bo (English) | Literature |
| Libitina | | - | Roman Mythology |
| Noortje | | NO:R-tyə (Dutch) | Dutch, Limburgish |
| Petunia | | pə-TOON-yə, pə-TYOON-yə | English (Rare) |