shrinkingly

English

Etymology

From shrinking +‎ -ly.

Adverb

shrinkingly (comparative more shrinkingly, superlative most shrinkingly)

1. In a shrinking manner; as if shrinking away
   • 1903, Mabel Osgood Wright, People of the Whirlpool‎^[1]:

     That shy-looking fellow standing against the curtain at your right, with the brown mustache and broad forehead, is the New England sculptor whose forcible creations are known everywhere, yet he is almost shrinkingly modest, and he never, it seems, even in thought, has broken the injunction of "Let another praise thee, not thine own lips."

   • 1907, George Washington Cable, Old Creole Days‎^[2]:

     Nor, if we turn to the present, is the evidence much stronger which is offered by the gens de couleur whom you may see in the quadroon quarter this afternoon, with "Ichabod" legible on their murky foreheads through a vain smearing of toilet powder, dragging their chairs down to the narrow gateway of their close-fenced gardens, and staring shrinkingly at you as you pass, like a nest of yellow kittens.

   • 1911, Charles Foster Kent, The Makers and Teachers of Judaism‎^[3]:

     For half a century that faithful servant of Jehovah suffered, often shrinkingly, yet voluntarily, a constant martyrdom.

   • 1915, Dorothy Canfield, Hillsboro People‎^[4]:

     Instead, a red-eyed girl in one of Mrs. Warren's own nightgowns came to the door and said shrinkingly: "Lem slept in the barn last night.

   • 1929, Various, Library Of The World's Best Literature, Ancient And Modern, Vol. 5‎^[5]:

     The tiny thing accepted the kiss somewhat shrinkingly, and looked about her, awed by the grandeur of the hall, the large fireplace and blazing logs, the men in armor, or the suits of armor standing up and pretending to be men.