/ kɔɪ; NAmE / adjective
1.
shy or pretending to be shy and innocent, especially about love or sex, and sometimes in order to make people more interested in you :
She gave me a coy smile.
2.
coy (about sth) not willing to give information about sth, or answer questions that tell people too much about you
SYN reticent :
She was a little coy about how much her dress cost.
► coyly adverb
► coy·ness noun [ U ]
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WORD ORIGIN
Middle English : from Old French coi , quei , from Latin quietus repose, quiet. The original sense was quiet, still (especially in behaviour), later modestly retiring , and hence (of a woman) affecting to be unresponsive to advances .