SHY • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Shy

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/ʃaɪ/ Listen

adjective

Shy adj. (compar. shyer; superl. shyest)

1.

Easily frightened; timid; as, a shy bird. "The horses of the army... were no longer shy, but would come up to my very feet without starting."

2.

Reserved; coy; disinclined to familiar approach. "What makes you so shy, my good friend? There's nobody loves you better than I." "The embarrassed look of shy distress And maidenly shamefacedness."

3.

Cautious; wary; suspicious. "I am very shy of using corrosive liquors in the preparation of medicines." "Princes are, by wisdom of state, somewhat shy of thier successors."

4.

Inadequately supplied; short; lacking; as, the team is shy two players.(Slang)

5.

(Poker), Owing money to the pot; in cases where an opponent's bet has exceeded a player's available stake or chips, but the player chooses to continue playing the hand before adding the required bet to the pot. (Slang)

To fight shy. See under Fight, v. i.

verb

Shy v. t. To throw sidewise with a jerk; to fling; as, to shy a stone; to shy a slipper.

Shy v. i. (past & past part. shied; pres. part. shying) To start suddenly aside through fright or suspicion; said especially of horses.

noun

Shy n.

1.

A sudden start aside, as by a horse.

2.

A side throw; a throw; a fling. "If Lord Brougham gets a stone in his hand, he must, it seems, have a shy at somebody."

See images of 'Shy'

Etymology of 'Shy'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Shy" Quotes from Famous Books

... was humming a favorite chant, I think it was "Babylon's a-Fallin'," a porpoise jumped higher than the bowsprit. Had the Spray been going a little faster she would have scooped him in. The sea-birds sailed around rather shy. ...

— Sailing Alone Around The World • Joshua Slocum

... he would be very pleased, but he couldn't tell at all whether his friend went in for that sort of thing—had an idea he didn't, and rather fought shy of society shows, though, of course, Harborough was ...

— Lady Betty Across the Water • Charles Norris Williamson and Alice Muriel Williamson

... easy victim. He became fond of athletics of all kinds and was intensely interested in naturalism intending at one time to make science his life work; and he drilled himself in doing the things that were difficult for him to do, until, though naturally somewhat timid or shy, he did not know the meaning of the word fear, and has been looked on as a prodigy of courage, both ...

— A Treasury of Heroes and Heroines - A Record of High Endeavour and Strange Adventure from 500 B.C. to 1920 A.D. • Clayton Edwards

... next! And besides, to tell the honest truth, it wasn't I myself borrowed the money. Pyotr Semyonitch forced it upon me. 'Take it,' he said, 'take it. If you don't take it,' he said, 'it means that you don't trust us and fight shy of us. You take it,' he said, 'and build your father a ...

— The Horse-Stealers and Other Stories • Anton Chekhov

... well, thank you, M. Theo. He has made many more interesting discoveries about the Conqueror. He is very superior, M. Malaumain," she added, turning to Brigit. "He was in service with many great people, so he is never shy, as I am." ...

— The Halo • Bettina von Hutten

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