Meekness

/ˈmiknɪs/

/ˈmiknɛs/

IPA guide

Other forms: meeknesses

Use the noun meekness to talk about someone's habit of acting shy or submissive. Your own meekness might keep you from asking your boss for a raise.

If you tend to give in easily, or to quietly endure hardship, you have the quality of meekness. Meekness can mean not speaking up for yourself or deferring to other people with louder voices and stronger opinions. The word meekness has meek at its root, "gentle, benevolent, or humble." Originally, the word meek was specifically associated with women and feminine qualities, and it comes from an Old Norse root, mjúkr, "soft or gentle."

Definitions of meekness

noun
a disposition to be patient and long suffering

synonyms: subduedness

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types:
spinelessness
the quality of lacking a strong character; an irresolute disposition

type of:
humbleness, humility
a lack of arrogance or false pride
noun
the feeling of patient, submissive humbleness

synonyms: submission

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type of:
humbleness, humility
a feeling of modesty about oneself or one's accomplishments

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