shrinking violet

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English

WOTD – 5 December 2018

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

Noun

shrinking violet (plural shrinking violets)

  1. (idiomatic) A very shy or timid person, who avoids contact with others if possible.
    June, no shrinking violet she, crossed the room and introduced herself to the newcomers.
    • 1965, “So Long Mom (A Song for World War III)” (track 1, side 2), in That Was the Year That Was, performed by Tom Lehrer:
      Little Johnny Jones, he was a US pilot / And no shrinking violet was he / He was mighty proud when World War III was declared / He wasn't scared, no siree!

Usage notes

  • Often in the negative form no shrinking violet.

Synonyms

Translations

See also

References

  1. ^ Michael Quinion (September 25, 2010) “Shrinking violet”, in World Wide Words.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ [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, […]”

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