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
idioms
verb (used with or without object)
noun
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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:
The Boston Red Sox remained one win shy of matching their team-record longest win streak, set in 1946, after their Major League Baseball game against Baltimore was rained out on Tuesday.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
“I won’t shy away from what we’re doing,” Tracy said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
For the second quarter, Netflix reported $12.56 billion in revenue, just shy of Wall Street’s estimates for $12.58 billion.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 16, 2026
That day, when the Argentina midfielder scored a goal the celebrations inside Anfield registered 1.74 on the Richter scale - just shy of the 2.0 needed for a minor earthquake.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
So much for him being shy and Look Away being real.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
The Northamptonshire politician said it had been a "pleasure" to work with Streeting, who "never shies away from the right principled decision, even in difficult times".
From BBC ● May 15, 2026
If Levick shies away from generalization, he too is a composer not easily pinned down.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 16, 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
Which is not to say the new “Frasier” shies away from what Grammer calls “at least college-level” discourse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 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 Nicholson, Meredith
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 Leach, John Albert
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 Hudson, W. H. (William Henry)
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
Slate, a bit shyer and more reserved than you would expect, is still contemplating her post-pandemic life.
From New York Times ● Sep. 5, 2021
The shyer creatures would go to the water hole early in the morning, drink a few sips of water, and then move away.
From "The Girl Who Married a Lion: and Other Tales from Africa" by Alexander Mccall Smith
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
Most people think that, because I don’t say much, I’m the shyest king to ever walk the earth, but I’m not actually shy.
From "King and the Dragonflies" by Kacen Callender
Holloway has never shied away from a challenge and his high-output striking and viral finishes have made him a fan favourite.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
"British Columbia has never shied away from taking on powerful corporations when their actions cause harm to people and communities," she added.
From Barron's ● Jul. 7, 2026
In the past, many housing developers have shied away from building affordable housing because assembling the subsidies needed to make construction profitable is challenging.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
"Rockstar has always had its finger on the pulse of music, entertainment, societal, political, celebrity, and online culture trends, and they've never shied away from satirising these things in GTA games," she said.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
It was something about the big pihon tree at the edge of the clearing; the horses shied away from it and blew air through their nostrils when the men tried to ride them near it.
From "Ceremony:" by Leslie Marmon Silko
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
It’s been a big topic, and certainly one that I’m not shying away from.
From Salon ● Apr. 27, 2026
Cruz isn't shying away from his family connections.
From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2026
Fund managers are shying away from the two internet giants, too.
From Barron's ● Feb. 15, 2026
This time the towering fellow swung on him like a shying horse.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
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.
