shy

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see also: Shy

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Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʃaɪ/

Adjective

shy (comparative shyer, superlative shyest)

1. Easily frightened; timid.
   • 1726, Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels

     The horses of the army, and those of the royal stables, having been daily led before me, were no longer shy, but would come up to my very feet without starting.

2. Reserved; disinclined to familiar approach.

   He is very shy with strangers.

   • 1712, John Arbuthnot, The History of John Bull

     What makes you so shy, my good friend? There's nobody loves you better than I.

3. Cautious; wary; suspicious.

   • I am very shy of using corrosive liquors in the preparation of medicines.

   • Princes are, by wisdom of state, somewhat shy of their successors.

4. (informal) Short, insufficient or less than.

   By our count your shipment came up two shy of the bill of lading amount.

   It is just shy of a mile from here to their house.

5. Embarrassed.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:shy

Antonyms

• audacious
• bold
• brazen
• gregarious
• extroverted
• outgoing

Translations

• French: timide
• German: schüchtern, scheu
• Portuguese: pávido, assustado, medroso
• Russian: пугли́вый
• Spanish: tímido

Translations

• French: timide
• German: scheu, schüchternē
• Italian: timido
• Portuguese: reservado, tímido
• Russian: засте́нчивый
• Spanish: reservado

Translations

• French: prudent
• Portuguese: cuidadoso
• Russian: осторо́жный
• Spanish: tímido

Translations

• Italian: meno

Translations

• French: embarrassé
• German: verlegen
• Portuguese: avergonhado, envergonhado
• Russian: стыдли́вый
• Spanish: vergonzoso

Verb

shy (shies, present participle shying; past and past participle shied)

1. (intransitive) To avoid due to timidness or caution.

   I shy away from investment opportunities I don't understand.

2. (intransitive) To jump back in fear.

   The horse shied away from the rider, which startled him so much he shied away from the horse.

3. (transitive) to throw sideways with a jerk; to fling

   to shy a stone; to shy a slipper

   • , Wilkie Collins, The Moonstone (chapter VI)

     "I was thinking, sir," I answered, "that I should like to shy the Diamond into the quicksand, and settle the question in that way."

Translations

• Italian: adombrarsi
• Russian: отпря́нуть

Translations

• Italian: gettare, scagliare
• Spanish: lanzar

Noun

shy (plural shies)

1. An act of throwing.

   • If Lord Brougham gets a stone in his hand, he must, it seems, have a shy at somebody.

   • 2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin 2009, p. 55:

     The game had started. A man was chasing the ball, it went out for a shy.

2. A place for throwing.

   coconut shy

3. A sudden start aside, as by a horse.
4. In the Eton College wall game, a point scored by lifting the ball against the wall in the calx.

Translations

• Portuguese: lançamento, arremesso, lance

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Shy

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Proper noun

1. Surname

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