as in meek
not talking or behaving in a loud and confident way
a modest, unassertive person an unassertive manner
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Recent Examples of unassertive
Avoiding is unassertive and uncooperative, where an individual tends to give up on their own needs and acquiesce to the desires of others by disengaging from the situation altogether.
—
Ellen Choi, Forbes, 10 Mar. 2025
Accommodating, which is unassertive and cooperative, prioritizes the needs and preferences of others over one’s own in order to maintain harmony.
—Ellen Choi, Forbes, 10 Mar. 2025
Shy and unassertive, she’s often been overlooked by others and kept to herself.
—Yasmine Alsayyad, The New Yorker, 9 Jan. 2023
After a time, Patterson’s play-it-down-the-middle approach feels less like the remembrances of a Renaissance man and more like evasive, unassertive hedging.
—Mark Athitakis, Washington Post, 6 June 2022
The sun, only rarely in evidence behind gray clouds, set quickly and bade us an unassertive farewell.
—Washington Post, 1 Jan. 2022
My own thoughts have been along the line of weak, unassertive, super humble and timid.
—Glenna Christensen, idahostatesman, 14 June 2018
Meryl Streep stars as Post owner Katherine Graham, an unassertive socialite who normally follows the journalistic lead of her editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks, playing it too cute).
—John Powers, Vogue, 13 Dec. 2017
Ellen Choi, Forbes, 10 Mar. 2025
Accommodating, which is unassertive and cooperative, prioritizes the needs and preferences of others over one’s own in order to maintain harmony.
—Ellen Choi, Forbes, 10 Mar. 2025
Shy and unassertive, she’s often been overlooked by others and kept to herself.
—Yasmine Alsayyad, The New Yorker, 9 Jan. 2023
After a time, Patterson’s play-it-down-the-middle approach feels less like the remembrances of a Renaissance man and more like evasive, unassertive hedging.
—Mark Athitakis, Washington Post, 6 June 2022
The sun, only rarely in evidence behind gray clouds, set quickly and bade us an unassertive farewell.
—Washington Post, 1 Jan. 2022
My own thoughts have been along the line of weak, unassertive, super humble and timid.
—Glenna Christensen, idahostatesman, 14 June 2018
Meryl Streep stars as Post owner Katherine Graham, an unassertive socialite who normally follows the journalistic lead of her editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks, playing it too cute).
—John Powers, Vogue, 13 Dec. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unassertive
Adjective
-
The Old Lady have underperformed for much of the campaign, and their meek exit from the Champions League at the hands of PSV Eindhoven increased the scrutiny on Motta, who’s only been in the job since last June.—
Emmet Gates,
Forbes,
21 Mar. 2025
-
Docile, meek, grateful for him.—
Joyce Carol Oates,
The New Yorker,
16 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Like a cat with nine lives, the building has undergone multiple renovations since its humble start as a savonnerie, or soap factory, in 1630.—
Travel + Leisure Editors,
Travel + Leisure,
16 Apr. 2025
-
What began as a humble mom-and-pop grocer and butcher shop a century ago is now a well-greased sausage factory, selling its products to big-name distributors such as Shamrock Foods, US Foods and Sysco, which get them to major sporting venues such as Ball Arena and Coors Field.—
Miguel Otárola,
Denver Post,
15 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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That adds up to more than a modest, marginal performance boost.—
John Kannapell,
Forbes.com,
14 Apr. 2025
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How modest, after all, safety’s promises, the ground beneath us not giving out, not even that.—
Maya C. Popa,
New Yorker,
14 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Wu was seen as timid at the beginning of the migrant crisis, staying in the background while Healey seized a Roxbury community rec center as a migrant shelter.—
Joe Battenfeld,
Boston Herald,
25 Mar. 2025
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Of course, a lot of Republicans don’t feel that way because they’re being tricked into returning to a George W. Bush-era mindset where Democrats are weak and timid on the world stage while Republicans are tough and firm and willing to bomb the hell out of anyone who stands in their way.—
Connor Okeeffe,
Oc Register,
23 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unassertive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unassertive. Accessed 20 Apr. 2025.
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