shy

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Easily frightened

   Easily frightened; timid.

   • 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. 2

   Reserved

   Reserved; disinclined to familiar approach.

   • He is very shy with strangers.
   • VVhat makes you ſo ſhy of late, my good Friend? There's no Body loves you better than I, nor has taken more Pains in your Affairs: […]
3. 3

   Cautious

   Cautious; wary; suspicious.

   • We grant, although he had much wit, / H' was very shy of using it; / As being loth to wear it out, / And therefore bore it not about,
   • Princes are, by wisdom of state, somewhat shy of their successors.
   • […] I am very ſhy of building any thing of moment upon foundations that I eſteem ſo unſure, […]
4. ›+ 15 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 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.
      • The year I turned 26, as the head of my own brokerage firm, I made $49 million, which really pissed me off because it was three shy of a million a week.
   2. 5

      Less likely to reveal whom they will vote for than average, chiefly in the context of the…

      Less likely to reveal whom they will vote for than average, chiefly in the context of the collective effect this has on polling accuracy.

      • Pollsters need to remember the shy Tory factor.
   3. 6

      To avoid due to caution, embarrassment or timidness.

      • Courts might tend to shy from limiting Congress under such a vague standard.
   4. 7

      To jump back in fear.

      • The horse shied at the unexpected approach of a motor vehicle.
   5. 8

      To throw sideways with a jerk

      To throw sideways with a jerk; to fling.

      • to shy a stone
      • shy a slipper
      • Then two or three boys laughed and sneered, and a big brutal fellow, who was standing in the middle of the room, picked up a slipper, and shied it at the kneeling boy, calling him a snivelling young shaver.
   6. 9

      To throw a ball with two hands above the head, especially when it has crossed the side…

      To throw a ball with two hands above the head, especially when it has crossed the side lines in a football (soccer) match.

   7. 10

      To hit the ball back into play from the sidelines in a shinty match.

   8. 11

      An act of throwing.

      • Foker discharged a prodigious bouquet at her, and even Smirke made a feeble shy with a rose, and blushed dreadfully when it fell into the pit
      • If Lord Brougham gets a stone in his hand, he must, it seems, have a shy at somebody.
      • The game had started. A man was chasing the ball, it went out for a shy.
   9. 12

      A place for throwing.

      • coconut shy
   10. 13

       A sudden start aside, as by a horse.

   11. 14

       In the Eton College wall game, a point scored by lifting the ball against the wall in the…

       In the Eton College wall game, a point scored by lifting the ball against the wall in the calx.

   12. 15

       A throw-in from the sidelines, using two hands above the head.

   13. 16

       In shinty, the act of tossing the ball above the head and hitting it with the shaft of…

       In shinty, the act of tossing the ball above the head and hitting it with the shaft of the caman to bring it back into play after it has been hit out of the field.

   14. 17

       A gibe

       A gibe; a sneer.

   15. 18

       A surname.

The neighborhood

• synonymabashed
• synonymbackward
• synonymbashful
• synonymbookish
• synonymcoy
• synonymdistant
• synonymembarrassed
• synonymhesitant
• synonymmousy
• synonymunassertive
• synonympassive
• synonymquiet
• antonymaudacious
• antonymbarefaced
• antonymbold
• antonymbrazen
• antonymimpudent
• antonymimmodest
• antonymunblushing
• antonymconfident
• neighborbashful
• neighborreserved
• neighbortimid
• neighbordemure
• neighborcoy
• neighborwouldn't say boo to a goose
• neighborshyness
• neighborshy person
• neighborcautious