Meanings
comparative more trepidatious · superlative most trepidatious
- In a state of trepidation; fearful.
He looks a little trepidatious too, and we both laugh awkwardly as he nears me.
2020, Sophie Kinsella, Love Your Life, Dial Press, →ISBN2 more examples
Hilda looked up from the papers she had been busy with as he entered -- in fact, made a guilty and trepdatious attempt at sweeping them out of sight, which suggested a weakness entirely foreign to her.
1904, Bertram Mitford, The Sirdar's Oath, F. V. WhiteFactor in Grammer’s outspoken Trumpism, which complicates the legacy of his defining role, and fans may be forgiven for feeling trepidatious.
2023 February 27, Elle Hunt, “‘Don’t make Frasier best friends with Elon Musk!’ Writers and comics offer their reboot tips”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
Origin
From, or as if, trepidate + -ious; see trepidation for more.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
trepidatious. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trepidatious
“trepidatious.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trepidatious. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “trepidatious,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trepidatious.
Source: trepidatious on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.