SHY • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • 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

... musingly. Then, after another thoughtful pause: "Say, I suppose you're a little shy about bracin' these ...

— The She Boss - A Western Story • Arthur Preston Hankins

... is as large as the common albatross, and is carnivorous. It is frequently called the break-bones, or osprey peterel. They are not at all shy, and, when properly cooked, are palatable food. In flying they sometimes sail very close to the surface of the water, with the wings expanded, without appearing to move them in the least degree, or make any ...

— The Works of Edgar Allan Poe - Volume 3 (of 5) of the Raven Edition • Edgar Allan Poe

... two days at Pollington and was of course aware of the dangers among which he walked. Maria had been by no means the first to welcome him. All the other girls had presented themselves before her. And when at last she did come forward she was very shy. The eldest daughter had married her clergyman though he was still only a curate; and the second had been equally successful with Lieutenant Postlethwaite though the lieutenant had been obliged in consequence to leave the army and to earn ...

— John Caldigate • Anthony Trollope

... interval of silence. Each was continuing his dream apart from the other. Then the doctor resumed: "I will tell you of a fancy which has often haunted me. Suppose we admit that Bernadette was not the shy, simple child we knew her to be; let us endow her with a spirit of intrigue and domination, transform her into a conqueress, a leader of nations, and try to picture what, in that case, would have happened. It is evident that the Grotto would be hers, the Basilica also. We should see ...

— The Three Cities Trilogy, Complete - Lourdes, Rome and Paris • Emile Zola

... throat as she waved good-by from the veranda. She was glad Bruce was going, even if her throat did ache. Aches like that seemed far less important than they used to. She waved with a thrill coursing up her spine and a shy, eager sense of how big and wonderful and happy a thing it was to be ...

— The Camerons of Highboro • Beth B. Gilchrist

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