coy
adjective
artfully or affectedly shy or reserved; slyly hesitant; coquettish.
coy
American
[koi]
/ kɔɪ /
adjective
-
coyer,
comparative
-
coyest
superlative
-
artfully or affectedly shy or reserved; slyly hesitant; coquettish.
-
showing reluctance, especially when insincere or affected, to reveal one's plans or opinions, make a commitment, or take a stand.
The mayor was coy about his future political aspirations.
-
Archaic. disdainful; aloof.
-
Obsolete. quiet; reserved.
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
Obsolete.
-
to quiet; soothe.
-
to pat; caress.
coy
1
British
/ kɔɪ /
adjective
-
(usually of a woman) affectedly demure, esp in a playful or provocative manner
-
shy; modest
-
evasive, esp in an annoying way
Coy.
2
British
abbreviation
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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coyishnessnoun
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coynessnoun
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overcoynessnoun
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uncoynessnoun
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coyishadjective
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overcoyadjective
-
uncoyadjective
-
coylyadverb
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of coy
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Anglo-French coi, quoy “calm,” Old French quei, from unattested Vulgar Latin quētus, for Latin quiētus quiet
Explanation
Take the adjective coy for a person who pretends to be shy but really isn't, or someone who could give a definite answer but won't. Coy behavior can be playful or just plain annoying. Originally meaning "quiet and shy," today someone who is coy pretends to be shy in a playful manner — often as a form of flirting. If a politician is coy about something, he or she only gives vague statements on an issue for fear of committing to a position or angering his or her constituency. Common to both of these senses is the fact that a person uses coyness to subtly manipulate his or her audience.
Vocabulary lists containing coy
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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"To His Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell
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The Things They Carried
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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.
See Examples For:
The “Lanterns” showrunner remained coy when asked whether this lantern’s more ominous origins could lead to any unintended consequences for Stewart.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026
However, the Marvel star kept coy about where exactly he and Zendaya would be staying with her relatives: “Where we’ll be is a secret.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
With Chair Kevin Warsh playing coy, it’s mostly about jobs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
The word “DeFiant” was a coy wink to this idea of decentralized currency, known as DeFi, the ostensible rationale for the new Trump–Witkoff platform.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
She was breathless and coy and blushed to excess.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
I am now second in command of a Coy. of respectable size.
From Letters from Mesopotamia in 1915 and January, 1916, from Robert Palmer, who was killed in the Battle of Um El Hannah, June 21, 1916, aged 27 years by Robert Stafford Arthur Palmer
My "A" Coy. got as far as Kut and was set to feverish entrenching and wiring.
From Letters from Mesopotamia in 1915 and January, 1916, from Robert Palmer, who was killed in the Battle of Um El Hannah, June 21, 1916, aged 27 years by Robert Stafford Arthur Palmer
What was left of "E" Coy. entrained on 26th October, 1915, at Gailes for Ripon.
From The Seventeenth Highland Light Infantry (Glasgow Chamber of Commerce Battalion) Record of War Service, 1914-1918 by John W. Arthur
They were reluctantly constrained to admit that the attempt to undermine the Gasworks was a melancholy failure, and that the Mugsborough Electric Light and Installation Coy. was a veritable white elephant.
From The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell
A senior captain having arrived with the draft has taken over "A" Coy. and I remain as second in command.
From Letters from Mesopotamia in 1915 and January, 1916, from Robert Palmer, who was killed in the Battle of Um El Hannah, June 21, 1916, aged 27 years by Robert Stafford Arthur Palmer
Unlike his coyer colleagues, Wilson was never afraid to turn his searchlight on himself.
From Time Magazine Archive
One of the prominent members is Yuri Barsakov, whose coyer is the Izvestia News Agency.
From Time Magazine Archive
Sir: You have so frightened the South African government by your coyer story that they cannot make up their minds whether or not to let us read it.
From Time Magazine Archive
The storage reservoir, from which it draws Pioneer, Utah. its water, will coyer an area of 2000 acres, and contain about 15,000 million gallons of water.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 3 "Apollodorus" to "Aral" by Various
As to the coyer subtleties of the score, their discovery provides fresh interest for repeated hearings, giving The Ring a Beethovenian inexhaustibility and toughness of wear.
From The Perfect Wagnerite, Commentary on the Ring by Bernard Shaw
The coyest and most courted region in the 1968 election season is the South.
From Time Magazine Archive
To him, language is fundamentally the language of love: man wooing meaning, down to the coyest nuance, the most maidenly scruple.
From Time Magazine Archive
In exchange, the U.S. was offering only the coyest of hints about possible cutbacks in its own future programs.
From Time Magazine Archive
The following year, all the kiddie stars were lisping the lyrics of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and 1952 brought the coyest Christmas hit, I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.
From Time Magazine Archive
Alas! truth in Spain is coyest of sparrows, and to be caught must have not a grain but a whole bushel of salt shaken over its tail.
From Romantic Spain A Record of Personal Experiences (Vol. I) by John Augustus O'Shea
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
