shrinking violet

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
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈʃɹɪŋkɪŋ ˈvaɪələt/, /ˈʃɹɪŋkɪŋ ˈvaɪlət/, /-lɪt/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈʃɹɪŋkɪŋ ˈvaɪələt/, /ˈʃɹɪŋkɪŋ ˈvaɪlət/
  • Audio (AU)(file)
  • Hyphenation: shrink‧ing vio‧let

Noun

shrinking violet (plural shrinking violets)

  1. (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.
    • 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, […]”

Further reading
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