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:
A onetime seminarian — he left three years shy of being ordained a Catholic priest — Reilly was no saint.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
Investors could be left disappointed, given that Fed Chair Kevin Warsh has tended to shy away from forward guidance and favors short statements, ING analysts James Knightley and Chris Turner said in a note.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Shares of Imax were up nearly 12% on Thursday and were trading at just shy of $44.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
Continued high oil and gas prices offered a boost to earnings while enabling the company to cut its net debt by $3.3 billion, bringing it down to just shy of $20 billion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
We say goodbye and exchange shy, content smiles.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
If anything, the competition probably shies away from Edwards.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 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
"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
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
The mind shies away from a head tax, a facility tax.
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
This is a much shier bird than P. humii.
From The Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds, Volume 1 by Hume, Allan Octavian
He was really a fine shier, and his dribbling powers beyond dispute.
From Scottish Football Reminiscences and Sketches by Bone, David Drummond
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
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
They’re shyer about making judgments about medical practice.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2021
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
"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
It's the kind of question that can make your blood boil, raise your voice a few octaves higher than you knew possible, and summon strong opinions from even the shyest snacker in your friend group.
From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2021
“His interest was so whole-hearted and obvious that the shyest, most tongue-tied adventurer found himself speaking with entire freedom,” Kermit wrote.
From "Death on the River of Doubt" by Samantha Seiple
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
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
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
"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
Widespread preoccupation with litigation, however, is not the only—or even the main—reason civil rights groups have shied away from challenging the new caste system.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
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
The union’s leaders are clear that they aren’t shying away from their demands.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2026
The fact that it’s not shying away from the 20% earnings-related upside gap fill the May 29 session is a good sign.
From Barron's ● Dec. 3, 2025
Evidently he thought that I was shying away from the "gonnegtion" mentioned at lunch, but I assured him he was wrong.
From " The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald
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.
