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
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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:
He will continue playing for Saudi club Al-Nassr and is 15 shy of 1,000 career goals.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026
At the start of tonight, the energy and anxiety in my home in east Austin, just shy of ten miles from where James Talarico’s watch party is taking place, was high.
From Slate ● Nov. 4, 2026
Revenue rose 32% to $3.74 billion from $2.84 billion, but just shy of the $3.75 billion expected by analysts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026
Klum is never one to shy away from dressing up on the scariest day of the year, with previous looks including a worm, Medusa and the ogre Princess Fiona from the Shrek films.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026
Mawuli went shy as all heads turned to him.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
"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
If anything, the competition probably shies away from Edwards.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026
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
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
He was really a fine shier, and his dribbling powers beyond dispute.
From Scottish Football Reminiscences and Sketches by David Drummond Bone
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
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
“Hualpa has a nice face, but he never speaks with me. He is shyer than a deer. Cachi is not as handsome, but his eyes smile when he looks at me,” she would explain.
From "The Ugly One" by Leanne Statland Ellis
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
Several times they heard the drumming of a great woodpecker, the shyest of birds.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
McDonald’s detailed the plans as it works to overhaul its menu, declutter its value offerings and hold on to customers who are juggling higher costs of living and have shied away from dining out.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 4, 2026
"The Commonwealth has been an organisation that has never shied away from difficult situations," she added.
From Barron's ● Oct. 27, 2026
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
How can we take the measure of, or get to know, any person, especially a writer who, by his own admission, shied away from obvious forms of self-exposure?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
When a big lilac bush threw leaf patterns on the walk ahead of us, Grandma shied like a horse.
From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck
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
Cruz isn't shying away from his family connections.
From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2026
Nor is Venezi shying away from the fight.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026
I chased up and down streets and alleys, sticking to the shadows and shying away from the flickering streetlamps.
From "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
