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shy
1[ shahy ]
adjective
Antonyms:
- easily frightened away; timid.
Antonyms:
- 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.
She’s never been shy about asking to speak to the manager when she’s unhappy with customer service.
Synonyms: , ,
Antonyms: , ,
shy of funds.
- 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.
- (in poker) indebted to the pot.
- not bearing or breeding freely, as plants or animals.
verb (used without object)
- (especially of a horse) to start back or aside, as in fear.
- to draw back; recoil.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
noun
- a sudden start aside, as in fear.
shy
2[ shahy ]
verb (used with or without object)
- to throw with a swift, sudden movement:
to shy a stone.
Synonyms: , , , ,
noun
- a quick, sudden throw.
- Informal.
- a gibe or sneer.
- a try.
shy
1/ ʃɪ /
adjective
- not at ease in the company of others
- easily frightened; timid
- often foll by of watchful or wary
- poker (of a player) without enough money to back his bet
- (of plants and animals) not breeding or producing offspring freely
- informal.foll by of short (of)
- in combination showing reluctance or disinclination
workshy
verb
- to move suddenly, as from fear
the horse shied at the snake in the road
- usually foll byoff or away to draw back; recoil
noun
- a sudden movement, as from fear
shy
2/ ʃɪ /
verb
- to throw (something) with a sideways motion
noun
- a quick throw
- informal.a gibe
- informal.an attempt; experiment
- short for cockshy
Derived Forms
- ˈԱ, noun
- ˈ, adverb
- ˈ, noun
Other Word Forms
- · noun
- · adverb
- ·Ա noun
Word History and Origins
Origin of shy1
Origin of shy2
Word History and Origins
Origin of shy1
Origin of shy2
Idioms and Phrases
More idioms and phrases containing shy
In addition to the idiom beginning with shy , also see bricks shy of a load ; fight shy of ; once bitten, twice shy .Synonym Study
Example Sentences
Gurr isn’t shy about the topic today, and he knows there’s curiosity, especially because, at least publicly facing, the Walt Disney Co. has at times leaned conservative.
At no point was he going to shy away from taking shots with the game hanging in the balance, despite missing many of his shots.
Netflix's experience airing WWE shows since January - it says the first live show picked up just shy of five million views - seemed to pay dividends as WrestleMania aired largely without glitches.
He has just shy of 30 Labubus which retail at around £25 for an individual toy or £153 for a box of six.
Williams described the film, which does not shy away from dealing with the more difficult chapters of his life, as "the greatest hits of my trauma for the TikTok generation".
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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.
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