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
- Easily frightened; timid.
- Jonathan SwiftThe horses of the army ... were no longer shy, but would come up to my very feet without starting.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
Derived terms
Full definition of shy
Verb
- (intransitive) To avoid due to timidness or caution.I shy away from investment opportunities I don't understand.
- (intransitive) To jump back in fear.The horse shied away from the rider, which startled him so much he shied away from the horse.
- (transitive) to throw sideways with a jerk; to flingto shy a stone; to shy a slipper
Noun
shy
(plural shies)- 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.
- A place for throwing.coconut shy
- A sudden start aside, as by a horse.
- In the Eton College wall game, a point scored by lifting the ball against the wall in the calx.