retiring

adj, noun — 2 senses

retiring

adj

/ɹəˈtaɪ(ə)ɹɪŋ/

1

introverted, liking privacy and seclusion.

I don't really know him well, since he's so shy and retiring.
My uncle, as I can remember, was retiring in his disposition, scarcely ever visiting any one and not more frequently receiving any visitors.1861, E. J. Guerin, Mountain Charley, page 10:

1 more example

Lester was in the thick of social and commercial affairs; he walked in paths to which Jennie's retiring soul had never aspired.1911, Theodore Dreiser, chapter LX, in Jennie Gerhardt:

Derived terms: nonretiring, retiringly, retiringness, retiring room

retiring

noun

1

retirement

One day of those his retirings ^([sic]), giving out that he was sick, his father Antigonus came on the sudden to visit him, and met a fair dainty youth coming out of his chamber.1625, Francis [Bacon], Apophthegmes New and Old. […], London: […] Hanna Barret, and Richard Whittaker, […], →OCLC:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.