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• n  fear of the unknown or unfamiliar or fear of making decisions
• n  fearfulness in venturing into new and unknown places or activities

• Bush's favorite word, prudence, often sounded like an alibi -- or a euphemism for timidity.
• I suppose a lot of their timidity had to do with the still open wounds regarding the CIA's missing an event like Saddam Hussein's destruction of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
• But that public timidity hid a personal magnetism the preacher deployed in private with devastating effect to manipulate followers.

• timidness
• timorousness

• boldness

News & Articles

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• Be courageous, and do it.
  The word courageous is defined: Not deterred by danger or pain. Some synonyms are: brave-bold and valiant. There are times in our lives when a change is not considered a chance, but rather it is faced with fearfulness, shyness, timidity, and weakness.
  July 11, 2013 - The Log Cabin Democrat

Quotes

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• Mitt Romney in Austin American-Statesman
  Someone who wants to engage Iran displays a troubling timidity toward the terrible threat of a nuclear Iran,Romney said.
• John McCain in Turkish Press
  Where is the audacity of hope when it comes to backing the success of our troops all the way to victory in Iraq? What we heard last night was the timidity of despair,Senator McCain said in a statement.
• Pope Benedict XVI in Catholic News Agency
  Without any reference to transcendent truth, a slow "lowering of standards occurs," the Pope explains. "We observe today a timidity in the face of the category of the good and an aimless pursuit of novelty parading as the realization of...