shrinking violet
English
Etymology
Possibly from the inconspicuous nature of the violet (genus Viola) flower and plant.[1] The term appears to have been first used in the literal sense in the early 19th century.[2][3]
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "RP" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈʃɹɪŋkɪŋ ˈvaɪələt/, /ˈʃɹɪŋkɪŋ ˈvaɪlət/, /-lɪt/
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "GA" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈʃɹɪŋkɪŋ ˈvaɪələt/, /ˈʃɹɪŋkɪŋ ˈvaɪlət/
Audio (AU): (file) - Hyphenation: shrink‧ing vio‧let
Noun
shrinking violet (plural shrinking violets)
- (idiomatic) A very shy or timid person, who avoids contact with others if possible. [from early 19th c.]
- June, no shrinking violet she, crossed the room and introduced herself to the newcomers.
Synonyms
Translations
very shy person
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Usage notes
- Often in the negative form no shrinking violet.
References
- ^ Michael Quinion (September 25, 2010) “Shrinking violet”, in World Wide Words.
- ^ Leigh Hunt (1820 February 23) “Ronald of the Perfect Hand”, in The Indicator, number XX, London: Joseph Appleyard, →OCLC, page 158:
- The sun looked out with a melancholy smile upon the moss and the poor grass, chequered here and there with flowers almost as poor. There was the buttercup, struggling from a dirty white into a yellow; and a faint-coloured poppy, neither the good nor the ill of which was then known; and here and there by the thorny underwood a shrinking violet.
- ^ [James Gates Percival] (1825 November 1) “The Perpetual Youth of Nature. A Soliloquy.”, in The United States Literary Gazette, volume III, number 3, Boston, Mass.: Harrison Gray, published 1826, →OCLC, page 109: “The wind is very low— / It hardly wags the shrinking violet, / Or sends a quiver to the aspen leaf, […]”
Further reading
- shrinking violet (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- “shrinking violet”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.