timorous

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The Word of the Day for September 5 is:

timorous   \TIM-uh-russ\   adjective
    *1 : of a timid disposition : fearful
     2 : expressing or suggesting timidity

Example sentence:
     Matthew was too timorous to stand up to the no-good electronics salesman 
who ripped him off.

Did you know?
     "Timid" and "timorous" don't just have similar spellings and meanings; 
they are etymologically related as well. Both words ultimately derive from the 
Latin verb "timere," meaning "to fear." The immediate ancestor of "timid" is 
Latin "timidus" (same meaning as "timid), whereas "timorous" traveled to Middle 
English by way of the Latin noun "timor" ("fear") and the Medieval Latin 
adjective "timorosus." "Timid" may be the more common of the two words, but 
"timorous" is older. It first appeared in English in the mid-15th century; 
"timid" came on the scene a century later. Both words can mean "easily 
frightened" (as in "a timid mouse" or "a timorous child") as well as 
"indicating or characterized by fear" (as in "gave a timid smile" or "took a 
timorous step forward").

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.