shrinking vs weak-kneed

shrinking

adj
  • Shy and retiring. 

noun
  • The act of one who, or that which, shrinks; act of becoming smaller or moving timidly away. 

weak-kneed

adj
  • Lacking will power or strength of character; timid. 

  • Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see weak, kneed. 

How often have the words shrinking and weak-kneed occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )