• Shy

    Pronunciation

    • IPA: /ʃaɪ/
    • Rhymes: -aɪ

    Origin

    From Middle English shy ("shy"), from Old English sċēoh ("shy"), from Proto-Germanic *skiuhwaz ("shy, fearful"). Cognate with Dutch schuw ("shy"), German scheu ("shy"), Danish sky ("shy").

    Adjective

    shy

    1. Easily frightened; timid.
      • Jonathan SwiftThe horses of the army ... 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.
      • ArbuthnotWhat makes you so shy, my good friend? There's nobody loves you better than I.
    3. Cautious; wary; suspicious.
      • BoyleI am very shy of using corrosive liquors in the preparation of medicines.
      • Sir H. WottonPrinces are, by wisdom of state, somewhat shy of their successors.
    4. 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.

    Usage notes

    Often used in combination with a noun to produce an adjective or adjectival phrase.

    Adjectives are usually applicable to animals (leash-shy "shy of leashes" or head shy "shy of contact around the head" (of horses)) or to children.

    Synonyms

    Full definition of shy

    Verb

    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 flingto shy a stone; to shy a slipper

    Noun

    shy

    (plural shies)
    1. An act of throwing.
      • PunchIf 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.

    Derived terms

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