SHY


Meaning of SHY in English

I. ˈshī adjective

( usually shi·er or shy·er -ī(ə)r, -īə ; usually shi·est or shy·est -īə̇st)

Etymology: Middle English schey, from Old English scēoh; akin to Middle High German schiech shy, Old High German sciuhen to frighten off, make timid, Swedish skygg shy, Old Slavic ščuti to chase

1.

a. : easily frightened : skittish , timid

a diminutive mouse deer, shiest of them all — Virginia Hamilton

b. : expressive of fear or timidity

fled down the forest glade with shy and subtle steps — Elinor Wylie

2. : disposed to avoid a person or thing : cautious , distrustful , suspicious

the gorilla is sullen, untamable and ferocious, shy , wary, and slow-moving — Weston La Barre

a boy is shy of a girl who does not have these proofs of efficiency — Margaret Mead

3.

a. : hesitant or chary in committing oneself in action or belief : reluctant , circumspect

not in the least shy about disclosing the secrets of their craft to the uninstructed — Listener

travellers were very shy of being confidential on a short notice — Charles Dickens

shy of assuming the moral attitude — W.S.Maugham

b. : disinclined to discuss or admit to consideration

may well be rather shy of reverting to topics that are not … yet exhausted — F.R.Leavis

very shy about the actual condition and number of the … navy — G.M.Dallas

scholars had been shy of these documents, for fear of their destroying the authority of the … text — Edmund Wilson

4.

a. : sensitively diffident or retiring : reserved , bashful

shy in the presence of strangers and bold with people she knew well — Sherwood Anderson

the boy shy and sidelong with adolescence's indecisive shames and inferiorities — Ruth Park

of a shy modesty and excessive fear of intrusion which often obscured his real … worth — H.E.Starr

b. : expressive of such reticence or bashfulness

spoke in a shy , delicate voice, hushed and bookish — Irwin Shaw

remembered her childlike look … and shy tremulous grace — Oscar Wilde

5. : withdrawn from view or notice : hidden , secluded

the shy recesses of the woodland — George Meredith

the shy , almost sly, processes of evolution — Holbrook Jackson

some shy intuition on the edge of consciousness that would disappear if looked at directly — F.R.Leavis

6.

a. : meager in growth or reproduction : unproductive

sells off his shy breeders annually

is a shy bloomer in the house — Bessie Buxton

the greengage … is a shy bearer — F.D.Smith & Barbara Wilcox

b.

(1) : having less than the full or a specified amount or number : scant , lacking , short

looks about 10 years shy of his 62 — E.P.Snow

could get $2000 on a GI loan but would still be $6000 shy — N.M.Clark

(2) : having less money at stake than required in a game ; especially : indebted to the pot (as in poker)

7. : of a disreputable character or type

gambling hells and shy saloons — Blackwood's

Synonyms:

bashful , diffident , modest , coy : shy applies to a reserved or timid tendency to be unobtrusive, to avoid familiarity or contact with others, or to shun participation in group activity

a shy youth, uneasy with girls

the young people seemed shy, almost apprehensive. None stepped forward to greet the stranger; they seemed rather to shrink from him, whispering together in little groups — C.B.Nordhoff & J.N.Hall

bashful implies a frightened or hesitant shyness, often characteristic of childhood or awkward adolescence

he became increasingly bashful, and he never had a close friend of either sex — R.J.Donovan

bashful children afraid of the guests

diffident may apply to a shyness arising from lack of confidence or distrust in one's ability or personality

a small-town youth, unsure, diffident, reaching toward friendship with noble minds, and then drawing back with an unmannerly shrug — H.S.Canby

too diffident a man to have much truck with girls — Nevil Shute

modest may indicate absence of any undue self-confidence or conceit

the board in its report cautions scientists to be modest and restrained when they step beyond their special fields in expression of opinions as citizens — Vannevar Bush

the modest procedure is not to avow loudly, not to protest too much, our love of truth — G.W.Sherburn

coy may suggest an artful or coquettish affectation of shyness and hesitation

coy, like the no's of a woman who has decided in advance to yield — James Burnham

the ladies of the chansons are not coy, and often make the first advances. Such natural lusty love is not romantic — H.O.Taylor

II. verb

( shied ; shied ; shying ; shies )

intransitive verb

1. : to develop or exhibit a sudden antipathy : shrink , recoil

here an old liberal should begin to shy ; to halt and wonder — Ernest Barker

— often used with at or from

shied at the publicity guns trained on him — Eloise Hazard

the conservative court … had shied from the idea of encouraging revolutionaries — Oscar Handlin

2. : to start suddenly aside through fright or alarm

always shied at this particular spot — Laura Krey

falls that thump the shying trout — Allen Tate

seemed to shy , white-eyed, from the figure … on the kitchen floor — Kenneth Roberts

3. : to move or dodge to evade a person or thing — usually used with away or off

does not come near to touching this point, but shies away into … misleading examples — Times Literary Supplement

candidates shied away as soon as they heard the old pastor had not been paid — R.C.Wood

you shy off me because I am not your sort — Elizabeth Bowen

and sometimes with clear

always shied clear of publicity — Fortune

transitive verb

: to fight shy of : avoid , shun

in trade it is a dangerous thing to shy danger — Isak Dinesen

Synonyms: see demur

III. noun

( -es )

Etymology: shy (II)

: a sudden start aside (as from fright)

thrown by the horse's unexpected shy

IV. verb

( shied ; shied ; shying ; shies )

Etymology: perhaps from shy (I) ; from the once popular amusement of throwing sticks or stones at cocks specially trained in wariness and ability to dodge

transitive verb

: to throw (an object) with a jerk : fling

boys who delighted in shying stones at her fowls — H.A.Overstreet

intransitive verb

: to make a sudden throw

young men … shying for coconuts — Adrian Bell

V. noun

( -es )

1. : the act of shying : toss , throw

2. : a verbal fling

took a few shies at the integrity of his opponent

3. : an experimental attempt : try

made a few shies at orchestral recording — Roland Gelatt

4. : cockshy 1a, 2a

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.