afraid of one's own shadow

afraid of (one's) own shadow

Easily scared; jumpy; timid. Everyone was surprised that Janice led the meeting with confidence, as she normally seems afraid of her own shadow. Please don't take my sister to a haunted house on Halloween—she's afraid of her own shadow.

afraid of one's own shadow

Very timid and fearful, as in Richard constantly worries about security; he's afraid of his own shadow. This hyperbole has been used in English since the early 1500s, and some writers believe it originated in ancient Greece.

afraid of one's own shadow

Extremely timid, excessively fearful. In Richard III (ca. 1513), Sir Thomas More wrote, “Who may lette her feare her owne shadowe,” although a few years later Erasmus cited Plato as having said the same thing in Greek hundreds of years before. Henry David Thoreau used the phrase to describe the timidity of Concord’s town selectmen in refusing to toll the parish bell at John Brown’s hanging (1859), and by then it had been in use for at least two centuries.

词组	afraid of one's own shadow
释义	afraid of one's own shadow afraid of (one's) own shadow Easily scared; jumpy; timid. Everyone was surprised that Janice led the meeting with confidence, as she normally seems afraid of her own shadow. Please don't take my sister to a haunted house on Halloween—she's afraid of her own shadow. See also: afraid, of, own, shadow Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. afraid of one's own shadow Very timid and fearful, as in Richard constantly worries about security; he's afraid of his own shadow. This hyperbole has been used in English since the early 1500s, and some writers believe it originated in ancient Greece. See also: afraid, of, own, shadow The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. afraid of one's own shadow Extremely timid, excessively fearful. In Richard III (ca. 1513), Sir Thomas More wrote, “Who may lette her feare her owne shadowe,” although a few years later Erasmus cited Plato as having said the same thing in Greek hundreds of years before. Henry David Thoreau used the phrase to describe the timidity of Concord’s town selectmen in refusing to toll the parish bell at John Brown’s hanging (1859), and by then it had been in use for at least two centuries. See also: afraid, of, own, shadow The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer See also: afraid of (one's) own shadow afraid of own shadow afraid of your own shadow be afraid of (one's) (own) shadow be frightened of (one's) (own) shadow be frightened/nervous/scared of your own shadow be nervous of (one's) (own) shadow be scared of (one's) (own) shadow scare (one) out of (one's) wits scare the wits out of (one)
随便看	at the outset at the outside at the point of (doing something) at the present time at the ready at the rear of at the receiving end at the risk of (doing something) at the risk of doing something at the same time at the stroke of (some specific time) at the summit of (one's) success at the tender age of at the time at the top of game at the top of lungs at the top of (one's) game at the top of (one's) lungs at the top of one's lungs at the top of (one's) voice at the top of the food chain at the top of the heap at the top of the hour at the top of the ladder at the top of the/(one's) agenda