Meanings
- introverted, liking privacy and seclusion.
I don't really know him well, since he's so shy and retiring.
2 more examples
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 10Lester 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
- gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of retire
Today is the party for our retiring co-workers.
plural retirings
- 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
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivenot arrogant or presuming
adjectivereluctant to draw attention to yourself
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Bulgarian затворен, необщителен
- затворен (zatvoren)preferring their own company, liking privacy
- необщителен (neobštitelen)preferring their own company, liking privacy
Greek απομακρυσμένος
- απομακρυσμένος (apomakrysménos)preferring their own company, liking privacy
Māori hūnguengue, ngākau tōngā
- hūnguenguepreferring their own company, liking privacy
- ngākau tōngāpreferring their own company, liking privacy
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with retiring
Cite this entry
retiring. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/retiring
“retiring.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/retiring. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “retiring,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/retiring.
Source: retiring on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.