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
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
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
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Just a meek statement requesting support for peaceful protest from the same regime that will imprison its citizens even for the thought of it.—
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Born in a stable among animals, Jesus entered the world humble and meek, not with the grandeur of a king.—
Adjective
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Singer Island has a humble personality, with more reverence for its natural beauty and less regard for glamorous perfection than its southern neighbor.—
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This humble ingredient is a powerhouse in all kinds of cooking.—
Adjective
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In Gaza’s Shati refugee camp, my grandfather built a modest shack, brick by brick, on the spot where his tent was erected.—
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Despite its status as a bustling urban center, Nya Lödöse clearly retained its agricultural roots; consequently, the open, semi-rural structure of the southern section included agricultural plots, modest houses, and gardens.—
Adjective
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This means the country’s appetite for bold exploration, which the compact between science and government supported for decades, may be gone, too—leaving in its place more timid, short-term thinking.—
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So that Indiana politicians could grow timid.—
Cite this Entry
“Unassertive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unassertive. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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