🐢 Very slow 🙈 Shy or withdrawn

tortoise-like

6.5

Tending to hide and avoid people, like a tortoise

adjective
/ˈtɔːrtəs-laɪk/

: tímido

Whenever faced with criticism, he would respond in a tortoise-like manner, withdrawing from the conversation.

Examples

After the argument she became tortoise-like, avoiding calls and staying inside for days.
His tortoise-like behavior made it difficult for him to make new friends at school.
Don't be so tortoise-like! Join us for the party!
She is tortoise-like today.
After an argument, she became tortoise-like, avoiding friends and staying indoors for days.
His tortoise-like attitude prevented him from taking risks and meeting new people.
Whenever he faced criticism, he would act in a tortoise-like way, retreating from discussions.

Synonyms

timid as a mouse

vstortoise-like

Informal

4.9

Feels very shy and nervous around people

is more cautious and deliberately withdraws to avoid attention

Antonyms

outgoing

46 3.0

Friendly and confident when talking to other people

How Withdrawn

reclusive

24 7.4

tortoise-like

6.5

withdrawn

4.8

reserved

3.7

shy

343 1.0

quiet

∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

tortoise-like positive

Morphology

tortoise-like = tortoise (transparent) = tortoise + like

Metaphorical extension (withdrawn/cautious) but readily inferable from the image of a tortoise retreating into its shell.

Etymology

Tortoise-like comes from tortoise, an animal that hides in its hard shell, and the ending -like, which means 'similar to'. So when someone is described as tortoise-like, they are withdrawing or acting cautiously, as if 'retreating into a shell'.