insecure
Lacking inner confidence
Insecure describes something not firmly fixed or stable: an insecure railing, an insecure internet connection.
More commonly, it describes a person lacking confidence or certainty about themselves: She felt insecure about her appearance.
The emotional sense dominates contemporary usage—someone insecure doubts their worth or worries about others' opinions.
An insecure situation is unsafe or uncertain: an insecure job market.
Uncertainty about oneself
- anxiousTroubled by uncertainty
- self-consciousUncomfortably aware of oneself
- unconfidentLacking self-assurance
- inadequateNot sufficient for purpose
inferior · jealous · envious · needy · clingy · defensive · oversensitive · approval-seeking
Open to attack
- exposedOut in open
- defenselessWithout means to resist
- unsafeLikely to cause harm
- unguardedWithout protection or caution
unshielded · undefended · open · susceptible · at-risk · endangered · threatened · penetrable
Trembling or unstable
- wobblyTending to teeter
- unsteadyLacking balance or stability
- ricketyUnsteady, liable to collapse
- precariousDangerously insecure
loose · unfastened · unsecured · tottering · shifting · unanchored · unmoored · rocky
Troubled by uncertainty
- avoidantInclined to evade
- disorganizedLacking systematic arrangement
- fearfulFull of fright
- clingyTending to hold on
needy · codependent · abandonment · rejection · jealous · possessive · hypervigilant · ambivalent
self-doubt
Uncertainty about oneself
- anxiousTroubled by uncertainty
- self-consciousUncomfortably aware of oneself
- unconfidentLacking self-assurance
inadequate · inferior · jealous · envious · needy · clingy · defensive · oversensitive · approval-seeking · vulnerable
vulnerable
Open to attack
- exposedOut in open
- defenselessWithout means to resist
- unsafeLikely to cause harm
unguarded · unshielded · undefended · open · susceptible · at-risk · endangered · threatened · penetrable · assailable
shaky
Trembling or unstable
precarious · loose · unfastened · unsecured · tottering · shifting · unanchored · unmoored · rocky · unreliable
anxious
Troubled by uncertainty
- avoidantInclined to evade
- disorganizedLacking systematic arrangement
- fearfulFull of fright
clingy · needy · codependent · abandonment · rejection · jealous · possessive · hypervigilant · ambivalent · dismissive
- moodshappy, sad, angry, anxious, excited
- attitudespositive, negative, ambition, apathy, curiosity
- Security Statussafe, unsafe, unsecured, protected, unprotected
- traitshonesty, ambitious, brave, calm, kindness
- IN- wordsinactive, incomplete, invisible, inside, indoor
- vulnerabilityvulnerability, vulnerable, defenselessness, defenseless, helplessness
insecureconfident
Sure of oneself
self-assured · self-confident · secure · assured · poised
- food insecurityUncertain access to adequate meals
- job insecurityUncertainty about continued employment
- food insecureLacking reliable nutrition access
- insecure attachmentUnreliable early bonding pattern