• IPA: /kɔɪ/

coy (comparative coyer, superlative coyest)

1. (dated) Bashful, shy, retiring.
2. (archaic) Quiet, reserved, modest.
3. Reluctant to give details about something sensitive; notably prudish.
4. Pretending shyness or modesty, especially in an insincere or flirtatious way.
5. Soft, gentle, hesitating.
   • 1594, William Shakespeare, ''The Rape of Lucrece

     Enforced hate, / Instead of love's coy touch, shall rudely tear thee.

• French: timide
• German: keusch, verlegen
• Italian: timido
• Russian: засте́нчивый
• Spanish: tímido

• French: coi (archaic)
• German: verschämt, schüchtern, zurückhaltend
• Italian: schivo
• Russian: скро́мный
• Spanish: recatado

• German: diskret, prüde
• Italian: modesto
• Russian: сде́ржанный
• Spanish: discreto

• German: (rare) kokett

• German: zurückhaltend
• Russian: нежный

coy (coys, present participle coying; past and past participle coyed)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To caress, pet; to coax, entice.

   • c. 1595–1596, William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act IV, scene i]:

     Come sit thee down upon this flowery bed, / While I thy amiable cheeks do coy.

2. (transitive, obsolete) To calm or soothe.
3. To allure; to decoy.

   • A wiser generation, who have the art to coy the fonder sort into their nets.

coy (plural coys)

1. A trap from which waterfowl may be hunted.

coy (plural coys)

1. (military) A company

1. Surname