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:
I was a painfully shy introvert with a unibrow who yearned to be an elderly shut-in by age 9.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
Nothing had changed by the last out of the team’s 2025 season, as they fell one win shy of meeting the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Cubans are not shy about admitting that they are increasingly weary of the constant disruptions to daily life.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
Attracting users has become more difficult in recent months, as business customers have started to shy away from the high prices for AI usage.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
“Duane, if you want to meet the shy stranger, then don’t.”
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
"Malick never shies away from a challenge and always wants to lead from the front - a true mentality monster," he said.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2025
As indelible as the lyrics of “Born to Run” are, Springsteen shies away from talk of artistry.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2025
The episode, titled “Who Killed Aaron Hernandez?,” shies away from simple answers to that question.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 12, 2024
Cher, musical icon and 2024 inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, never shies away from voicing an opinion.
From Salon ● May 2, 2024
But in addition it must have purpose or the human conscience shies away from it.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
“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
There effects are flung at the spectator's head like balls at a cocoanut; if they fail to register a hit it is the fault of the shier, not of the nut.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 159, 1920-07-28 by Various
Stat. v.r. dry scrubs 5.7 Like 270, but small white patch near outer edge 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 man’s stiff stride reminds her of “how some of her shyer students crossed the room to use the pencil sharpener.”
From New York Times ● Apr. 13, 2021
Marsha answered the door, while Esther ducked around a corner, shyer in person than I’d expected.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2019
On the other hand, Margot is a lot shyer than I am, and yet she’s not in the least embarrassed.
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
Domingo was a mama’s boy and the shyest of his siblings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 10, 2026
"I was probably the shyest of the three."
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2025
Most of his teammates consider him one of the shyest players on Penn State’s roster.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 18, 2023
In an Instagram post, Dunham called Mr. Scolari “the shyest extrovert, the most dramatic comedian, the most humble icon.”
From Washington Post ● Oct. 22, 2021
The shyest of the three girls, she was slow to take to Alpharetta.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
However, revenue from Robinhood’s cryptocurrency segment fell 38% to $100 million, as investors shied away from risky assets and focused more on artificial intelligence.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
Burnham has not shied away from clashing with the Premier League and football's authorities.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
One reason successive governments have shied away from revising the Sunday ban is opposition by a cross-party coalition of Christian churches and trade unionists.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
Although Laija García hasn’t shied away from embracing that familial tie either; in May, both Tito Double P and Peso Pluma concluded their “Dinastía” tour following their joint 2025 album of the same name.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
The Queen reached down to stroke May’s face, but the princess shied away.
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
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
The union’s leaders are clear that they aren’t shying away from their demands.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2026
She went on to emphasise that the Berlinale "in particular is known for not shying away from political films, from films that have a real social angle".
From Barron's ● Feb. 14, 2026
Crude oil futures rose on Wednesday, extending a move off lows as traders assess the likelihood the U.S. will attack oil producer Iran as well as the impact of India shying away from Russian oil.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
Even their horses seemed disturbed, shying away from what seemed to be a disembodied child.
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
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.
