What's the difference between timid and wary?

Timid


Definition:

  • (a.) Wanting courage to meet danger; easily frightened; timorous; not bold; fearful; shy.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) But my timid scrunch-face puts me so behind the curve that I might as well start training carrier pigeons.
  • (2) The Senate’s economic references committee accused Asic of missing or ignoring persistent signs of wrongdoing , characterising it as a “timid, hesitant regulator” that was too ready to uncritically accept assurances of a large institution that there were no grounds for intervention.
  • (3) Confirming that he would apply to be the next commissioner of the Met, he said: "I do not believe that the men and the women of the Met were timid, which is an accusation that has been levelled at us."
  • (4) When the police visited Rodger, whom Brown said deputies found “rather shy, timid and polite, well-spoken”, he played down any mental problems, telling police he was having difficulties with his social life and was planning to drop out of Santa Barbara City College.
  • (5) Like her bolder aunt Marine, the timid Maréchal-Le Pen complained that she suffered greatly from taunts at school that her grandad was a “fascist”.
  • (6) Photograph: AFP Saint Laurent became an object of immediate fascination: quiet, timid, with neatly parted schoolboy hair, anxious eyes lurking behind thick glasses and a frail body encased in a tight black suit.
  • (7) Free-born animals are very timid and show typical flight reactions.
  • (8) On the left, meanwhile, we feel our way towards a progressive alliance much more timidly, even when we know we’re sunk without it.
  • (9) It is suspicious of the SNP's rather timid version of independence, always being described as being about "the full powers of the parliament" – which is hardly a language or outlook for transformational change.
  • (10) This is an international problem demanding an international response, which so far has been desperately timid.
  • (11) Like Cameron, who is disappointing Eurosceptics with the timidity of his reform programme, the Swiss have been forced to accede to the realities of negotiating with a much bigger player.
  • (12) Endogenous depressives were found to have more pronounced changes on measures of dependence and timidity, but when change in mood state was partialed out only one of the dependence measures and timidity remained significant.
  • (13) This kind of contacts led to a social activation especially by schizophreniacs who had a lack of drive and seemed to be regressive, also caused an increase of drive and self-reliance by formerly timid, reserved girls.
  • (14) Romney also took several digs at Clinton’s foreign policy record, characterizing her time with the Obama administration as “timid”.
  • (15) Australia have a patchy squad, but its best elements are valuable and there had been no prospect that they would lose timidly.
  • (16) In opposition, we were too timid about making these bigger arguments.” He has calculated that government spending on housing benefit will be £120bn over the next five years, almost £50bn of which goes to private landlords.
  • (17) After only a few weeks in Chile, Pinochet is finding the charms of his native land - the compliant judges, the supportive generals, the timid politicians - are not what they used to be.
  • (18) The sanctions imposed by western states against Russia represent a timid hope that economic hardship will make Russians resent the regime and nudge them towards active protests.
  • (19) It is the bold agenda against the timid one; the visionaries against those who believe Labour can limp home with a few safe offerings that can fit safely on the back of a pledge card.
  • (20) The Liberal Democrats are undecided (Nick Clegg calls it "timid"), the crossbenchers unlikely to co-operate.

Wary


Definition:

  • (a.) Cautious of danger; carefully watching and guarding against deception, artifices, and dangers; timorously or suspiciously prudent; circumspect; scrupulous; careful.
  • (a.) Characterized by caution; guarded; careful.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Republicans remain wary of a contentious debate on the divisive issue, which could anger their core voters and undercut potential electoral gains in the November elections when control of Congress will be at stake.
  • (2) Besides, Francis says, once their reformation had gone on longer than their initial career, the rest of the band were starting to feel wary about just playing the old material, particularly when they found themselves booked to play a Canadian casino, the kind of venue that is traditionally the preserve of oldies acts: "It was just sort of symbolic, like ha-ha, here we are, at the casino.
  • (3) But while France has plainly moved on from the days when François Hollande could say his true enemy was “the world of finance”, major players remain wary of the country’s rigid employment laws .
  • (4) But many inside these Asian nations are wary of efforts to make emerging economies break ranks.
  • (5) The head of the TUC, Frances O'Grady, said she supported the aims of the foundation, but was wary of endorsing changes that allowed retailers to squeeze under the wire without raising the pay of the lowest-paid workers.
  • (6) Yet whatever Jürgen Klinsmann’s understandable wariness about Portugal as a wounded animal, the USA coach might prefer to take his chances against a less-than-100% Ronaldo in the testing, Amazonian conditions in Manaus, no matter how good he is.
  • (7) He is wary of pretension, alive to all shades of irony.
  • (8) I am of a similar vintage and, like many friends and fans of the series, bemoan the fact that we are generally treated by society as silly, weak, daft, soppy, prejudiced (even bigoted), risk-averse and wary of new situations.
  • (9) Tinsley is also wary about believing that the EBacc will make a substantial difference to language learning.
  • (10) Other countries in Africa and indeed all over the world need to look closely at this experiment in Lesotho and be very wary of repeating it."
  • (11) I was told the Guardian had been too negative about Playboy in the past, and that they were also wary after a recent "trashing in the Sunday Times magazine – where Mr Hefner underwent a complete character assassination".
  • (12) The government faces a close-fought referendum on constitutional reforms later this year, on which Renzi’s political fate hinges, and is wary of angering small investors.
  • (13) The dispute has pushed together regional powers who a few years ago might have been as wary of neighbours with claims on the islands as they were of Beijing.
  • (14) Fashion editors and former employees are wary of talking in public about them.
  • (15) Obama and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) got off to a shaky start: the KRG, which mostly benefited from the US invasion of Iraq, was wary of an American president anxious to withdraw and detach from the country.
  • (16) I am wary – very clear – I really wonder where it's all going, all this with Barack.
  • (17) As well as the risk of attrition to the Tories, the Lib Dems will be mindful that traditional Labour voters will be wary of proposed Lib Dem cuts in public spending – an issue that promises to take centre stage at the next election.
  • (18) Hudson says social workers have been wary of media attention because they believe it only focuses on the negative.
  • (19) Mourinho’s pre-match utterances are generally best skimmed for the odd word not specifically dedicated to inflammatory falsehoods, but Chelsea’s manager was correct to offer some wary respect for the Football League’s champion club and here, lining up in a tightly knit 4-4-2, Leicester were sharp in the tackle early on, and pacy on the break throughout.
  • (20) With a few striking exceptions, such as William Dalrymple and Philip Hensher , contemporary writers have become wary of engaging with it in all its complicated, uneasy-making richness.