afraid of one's own shadow
1
8.4
- idiom
- Informal
:
miedoso
- But I've always been afraid of my own shadow, and I saw this as an opportunity to step outside of my comfort zone.
- politicians afraid of their own shadow
Examples
-
Staff members were afraid of their own shadow, and few people, including members of the press or the Legislature, could pry information out of the agency.
Blog text (19) -
You're afraid of your own shadow.
-
Enough to make you afraid of your own shadow.
-
After Dan died, I was afraid of my own shadow.
-
Sir, I'm afraid of my own shadow.
-
Afraid of her own shadow.
-
Most criminal violence in movies just makes people more paranoid and afraid of their own shadow.
Blog text (1) -
He's afraid of his own shadow.
-
If you baby her and give in and stay home from work and sit around all day with her, she'll end up afraid of her own shadow.
Fiction book (1993) -
She is so afraid of her own shadow that she avoids going out in public.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Feeling fear or worry about something
∞
1.0
Feeling afraid because you think something bad might happen
348
1.0
Feeling afraid of things like the dark or loud noises and wanting to avoid them
143
1.3
Feeling afraid or nervous and easily frightened
84
3.9
Feeling fear and avoiding dangerous or difficult situations
60
3.5
Shy and afraid to do new or risky things
36
5.0
Feeling worried that something bad will happen
3
1.0
Being afraid because something seems dangerous
2
9.9
Easily afraid and not willing to take risks
Antonyms
How Timid
Surface Forms
Morphology
afraid + of + one + own + shadow
The meaning is a direct metaphorical extension of the literal parts: someone who is 'afraid' of 'one's own shadow' is frightened even by something harmless, so learners who know the constituent words can often infer it denotes excessive timidity. However, this requires mapping the literal image to an evaluative meaning (a conventionalized metaphor), which is not purely compositional, so it is only partially predictable.
Etymology
Afraid of one's own shadow comes from the clear picture of someone so nervous they are even scared of their own shadow, jumping at small, harmless sounds or sights. That's why it means 'extremely timid' or 'easily frightened'.