shy
1 Americanadjective
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- Antonyms:
- forward
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easily frightened away; timid.
- Antonyms:
- trusting
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suspicious, distrustful, or wary (often used in combination): The studio made a huge mistake when they cast a horse-shy actor in the cowboy role.
I am a bit shy of that sort of person.
The studio made a huge mistake when they cast a horse-shy actor in the cowboy role.
This particular inventor was known to be media-shy.
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She’s never been shy about asking to speak to the manager when she’s unhappy with customer service.
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shy of funds.
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short of a full amount or number; scant: He's pretty tall—just an inch shy of six feet.
We're still a few dollars shy of our goal.
He's pretty tall—just an inch shy of six feet.
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(in poker) indebted to the pot.
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not bearing or breeding freely, as plants or animals.
verb (used without object)
noun
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shies
plural
idioms
verb (used with or without object)
noun
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shies
plural
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a quick, sudden throw.
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Informal.
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a gibe or sneer.
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a try.
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adjective
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not at ease in the company of others
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easily frightened; timid
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(often foll by of) watchful or wary
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poker (of a player) without enough money to back his bet
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(of plants and animals) not breeding or producing offspring freely
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informal (foll by of) short (of)
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(in combination) showing reluctance or disinclination
workshy
verb
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to move suddenly, as from fear
the horse shied at the snake in the road
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to draw back; recoil
noun
verb
noun
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a quick throw
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informal a gibe
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informal an attempt; experiment
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short for cockshy
Synonym Usage
Shy, bashful, diffident imply a manner that shows discomfort or lack of confidence in association with others. Shy implies a constitutional shrinking from contact or close association with others, together with a wish to escape notice: shy and retiring. Bashful suggests timidity about meeting others, and trepidation and awkward behavior when brought into prominence or notice: a bashful child. Diffident emphasizes self-distrust, fear of censure, failure, etc., and a hesitant, tentative manner as a consequence: a diffident approach to a touchy subject.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of shy1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English (adjective) schei, sheu, sheouh “easily startled,” Old English scēoh “timid, fearful, shy”; cognate with Middle High German schiech; akin to Dutch schuw, German scheu; cf. eschew
Origin of shy2
First recorded in 1780–90; origin uncertain
Explanation
Making small talk is not much fun for a shy person. Shy means being nervous or reserved around other people, especially in a social situation. Someone who's extremely shy might blush or stammer when talking to a group of people. Shy can also mean "tending to avoid," like when someone is "camera shy," or if they "shy away" from being straightforward. The Old English root scēoh, "easily frightened," originally only referred to a horse, and came from a Germanic root meaning "scare."
Vocabulary lists containing shy
Scrabble: Words with no Vowels
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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:
His best finish came in 1976, when he netted just shy of 59,000 votes, though the exact count is contested.
From Slate ● Sep. 18, 2026
The 800m European champion Werro has come closest, running a time just 0.42 seconds shy of the record at the Zurich Diamond League.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
Honour your joy, do not shy away from the good that is trying to reach you, do not convince yourself that you are unworthy of it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
Bitcoin remains a long way shy of its peak of around $125,000 in October 2025, and some analysts are skeptical such levels will be repeated any time soon.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
He was so nice-looking, I couldn’t imagine that he was shy with girls, yet I could sense his awkwardness.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
"He shies away from the cameras, he doesn't address the nation at times and moments when people might expect him to," said Ashish Pradhan of the International Crisis Group.
From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026
Wood, who said he typically shies away from playing any version of himself on screen, was interested in seeing the script after Sennott approached him because he was a fan of her prior work.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 24, 2025
Noem invoked none of those magic buzz words, which the national security regime hardly shies away from levying in leak cases.
From Salon ● Mar. 13, 2025
Vimal shies away from the word "trailblazer" when people talk about what he's achieved already, as well as what's to come.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2024
This is certainly one reason why Dedd shies from these interviews.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
“Mabel 2 is much shier and has more wildness in her,” so she was used in the nervous bird scenes early on.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2025
“I just loved it. It was a natural fit. I think it’s good for any child, to be honest, for confidence. I was on the shier side.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2025
Toula worked in my shier stage of life.
From Time Magazine Archive
No doubt you are peacefully settled on your ancestral estate with only a few months and a little patience between you and your grandfather’s shier.
From The House of a Thousand Candles by Meredith Nicholson
Stat. r. trees 5.6 Like 377d, but head, nape chestnut; black ear patch in centre of a large white patch; two white bars on side of wing; shier; f., sim.
From An Australian Bird Book A Pocket Book for Field Use by John Albert Leach
Tell them how excited you are for them to meet your cousin, or make them the hero by asking them to check on the shiest person at the soiree.
From Salon ● Nov. 23, 2021
"But also, the girls and young women themselves, since it's likely the shiest and least experienced young women who are the victims of such encounters, would be loath to discuss them."
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2021
The shiest of the litter, he rested his head on Katt’s chest within moments of meeting her and quickly fell asleep.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 28, 2021
One of his closest friends among the Ducks, center Jake Hanson, once called Herbert “the shiest dude I’ve ever met.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2020
This resentful look is deceptive, however, for the bird is the shiest creature imaginable.
From Argentine Ornithology, Volume I (of 2) A descriptive catalogue of the birds of the Argentine Republic. by W. H. (William Henry) Hudson
Often unnoticed by drivers, these structures help shyer animals move across the landscape.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 31, 2024
The looking task yielded more nuanced results, indicating that shyer children were occasionally more accurate but less likely to respond.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2023
A duet is a great opportunity for a shyer person to sing without having to be the complete center of attention.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 14, 2023
Although it is Nazar who has lost his eye, he seems more protective over his brother Timur, who is a little shyer and more withdrawn.
From BBC ● Apr. 3, 2022
Soojin’s sister, a fourth grader, reminds me of a mini, shyer, and quieter version of Soojin and often makes me wish I had a real little sister—in addition to Rabiya.
From "Amina's Voice" by Hena Khan
Domingo was a mama’s boy and the shyest of his siblings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 10, 2026
And I kept thinking about my summer habit of roasting fruit in big weekly batches, how a stint in the oven could turn even the shyest berries into something plush and intense.
From Salon ● Dec. 16, 2025
However, Louis said Parker does not shared his nerves: "With the bike helmet off, the shyest kid he'll ever meet but, bike helmet on, he's so confident."
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2024
Most of his teammates consider him one of the shyest players on Penn State’s roster.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 18, 2023
She was back to being the fourth Vanderbeeker, first-class worrier and the shyest kid on 141st Street.
From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser
Eric has never shied away from expressing his opinions on the state of high school sports and how they can be improved.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026
But she shied away from making political statements.
From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2026
And in 2024, a host of figures who’d previously shied away from the president loudly and proudly got on board, from Vance to entertainment figures like Joe Rogan.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026
He shied away from criticising the president directly and declined to answer whether he backs Zelensky to win any election.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
Yet even if Elizebeth shied away from disclosure, she refused to become isolated.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
Like “Babe” and “Homeward Bound” before it, the film treats its younger audience with the respect and maturity they deserve, wading into heavy thematic territory without shying away from the bittersweet realities of death.
From Salon ● May 25, 2026
This year it expects to hit similar levels, partly to scoop up talent when others are shying away, said Bruce Buchanan, its co-founder and chief executive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
"We know what's at stake and we know who we're playing. We're not shying away from that," he said.
From Barron's ● Jan. 1, 2026
Jalen Hurts has relied heavily on hitches while shying away from crossing patterns.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 8, 2025
At first he would not waken, until, with a jerk of his head, he sat up, shying from Jonathan’s touch.
From "The Fighting Ground" by Avi
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.
