shy

shy¹ [ʃaı] adj comparative shyer superlative shyest

[: Old English; Origin: sceoh]

1.) nervous and embarrassed about meeting and speaking to other people, especially people you do not know

▪ He was a quiet, shy man.

shy with

▪ She was very shy with strangers.

▪ a shy smile

▪ As a teenager I was painfully shy (=extremely shy) .

shy to do sth

▪ He was too shy to come sit by me in class.

go all shy

BrE (=to suddenly become very shy)

▪ Oh, have you gone all shy, Jenny?

2.) sb is not shy about (doing) sth

used to emphasize that someone is very willing to do something or get involved with something

▪ John has strong opinions and he's not shy about sharing them.

3.) unwilling to do something or get involved in something

be shy about/of (doing) sth

▪ Employees are urged not to be shy about reporting incidents of sexual harassment.

4.) be shy (of sth)

especially AmE to have less than a particular amount of something

▪ The Democrats are three votes shy of a majority.

▪ Jessica died Monday. She was one week shy of her 13th birthday.

5.) used to say that someone does not like something and therefore tries to avoid it

▪ Although publicity-shy , he recently agreed to be interviewed.

→↑camera-shy, ↑work-shy

6.) shy animals get frightened easily and are unwilling to come near people

▪ Deer are shy creatures .

>shyly adv

▪ He grinned shyly.

>shyness n [U]

▪ Gradually I overcame my shyness .

→fight shy of (doing) sth at ↑fight¹ (22), once bitten, twice shy at ↑bite¹ (14)

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WORD FOCUS: shy

similar words: timid, self-conscious, reserved, withdrawn, introverted

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shy ²

shy² past tense and past participle shied present participle shying third person singular shies

v

if a horse shies, it makes a sudden movement away from something because it is frightened

▪ The horse shied, throwing Darrel from his saddle.

shy away from [shy away from sth] [i]phr v

to avoid doing or dealing with something because you are not confident enough or you are worried or nervous about it

▪ They criticized the leadership, but shied away from a direct challenge.

shy ³

shy³ n

→↑coconut shy