gun-shy

American

[guhn-shahy] / ˈgʌnˌʃaɪ /

adjective

frightened by the sound of a gunshot.

a gun-shy bird dog.
hesitant, wary, or distrustful, especially because of previous unpleasant experience.

gun-shy British

adjective

afraid of a gun or the sound it makes

a gun-shy dog is useless for shooting

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

gun-shyness

noun

Etymology

Origin of gun-shy

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“Everyone is gun-shy about getting on his bad side,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 13, 2026

Now you’re down 10%, feeling gun-shy and psychologically paralyzed, unable to pull the trigger on new opportunities.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 28, 2026

Yet without seeing concrete links to investors getting gun-shy on big tech’s increasing capex or slowing growth, it seems unlikely the AI trade is done.

From Barron's • Nov. 5, 2025

Defensively, it was a sound performance by Haney, largely because gun-shy Ramirez did so little.

From BBC • May 3, 2025

As before, archaeologists became gun-shy about arguing that Indians arrived in the Americas before the canonical date.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023