shrinking violet
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.
violet
/ˈvaɪ.ə.lət/
noun 5name 5adj 1
Collocations
4ADJ.
blue, brown, crushed, inside, light, modest, red, romantic
VERB + VIOLET
book, color, colour, flower, get, like, likes, line
VIOLET + NOUN
-, egg, everybody, letter, pupils, tint
PREP.
down, in, with
Definitions
noun
1
A plant or flower of the genus Viola, especially the fragrant Viola odorata; (inexact) similar-looking plants and flowers.
Refreshed by their cooling bath of evening dew, the violets and other nocturnal flowers emitted a pleasant fragrance over the fields, but from the bogs and the rivulets came up now and then damp, penetrating gusts, that sent an icy chill through me.
Albertus Magnus, the thirteenth century philosopher and occultist, states that coriander, valerian, and violet are love producing herbs.
2
A person thought to resemble V. odorata, especially in its beauty and delicacy.
‘Tom,’ he said, ‘you are looking at a crushed violet, a spent egg, a squeezed tube.’
3
The color of most violets; the colour evoked by the shortest visible wavelengths between 380 and 435 nm, an additive tertiary colour.
4
Clothes and (ecclesiastical) vestments of such a colour.
5
The characteristic scent of V. odorata.
adj
1
Of a violet colour.
name
1
A female given name from English.
It may be as well to say, by way of parenthesis, that her real name was Violante,―at least, such was the name by which her mother had her christened. But her father thought it much too long, and said it was better to call her Violet.
Her Pakeha name was Violet, and everybody called her that because her Maori name was too long. And my Nanny, she was just like a violet; shy and small and hiding her face in her petals if the sun blazed too strong.
2
A surname.
3
A number of places in the United States:
4
A number of places in the United States:
5
A number of places in the United States:
Thesaurus
Synonyms
adjective — of a color intermediate between red and blue
- purple
- purplish
Antonyms
Idioms & Phrases
Example Bank
601
Refreshed by their cooling bath of evening dew, the violets and other nocturnal flowers emitted a pleasant fragrance over the fields, but from the bogs and the rivulets came up now and then damp, pene
Wiktionary02
Albertus Magnus, the thirteenth century philosopher and occultist, states that coriander, valerian, and violet are love producing herbs.
Wiktionary03
‘Tom,’ he said, ‘you are looking at a crushed violet, a spent egg, a squeezed tube.’
Wiktionary04
It may be as well to say, by way of parenthesis, that her real name was Violante,―at least, such was the name by which her mother had her christened. But her father thought it much too long, and said
Wiktionary05
Her Pakeha name was Violet, and everybody called her that because her Maori name was too long. And my Nanny, she was just like a violet; shy and small and hiding her face in her petals if the sun blaz
Wiktionary06
My name is Violet Brown. - - - If I sound colorful, I am not. It's nought but a pair of names, stamped on me by two people who never met. First, my mother. She was fond of romantic novels with "Violet
WiktionaryUsage Notes
i Register
In some senses, violet is marked as figuratively. Watch for register when choosing this word.
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