shy

Meanings

1. Nervous or uncomfortable around other people.
2. Easily frightened and avoiding contact, said of animals.

Example sentences

• "She is too shy to speak in class."

  Level A1, Meaning 1

• "The shy boy hid behind his mother."

  Level A1, Meaning 1

• "Deer are shy animals and run when they hear a noise."

  Level A2, Meaning 2

• "He gave me a shy smile."

  Level A1, Meaning 1

Synonyms and antonyms

Look-alikes and common mistakes

• quiet : A quiet person speaks little by choice. A shy person may want to speak but feels nervous.
• introverted : Introverted describes a preference for calm, time alone. Shy describes nervousness around others, and the two can differ.

Word family and forms

Forms: shyer, shyest, shies, shied, shying

Word partners

Words and phrases that often go with "shy".

• painfully shy
• shy away from
• a shy smile
• feel shy
• shy of strangers
• a shy child

Idioms and phrases

shy away from

To avoid something because it makes you nervous or uncomfortable.

"Don't shy away from asking questions."

once bitten, twice shy

After a bad experience you become careful about trying it again.

"He lost money on one deal, and now he is once bitten, twice shy."

Origin

Shy comes from Old English sceoh, which meant timid, fearful or easily scared, and it appears in Middle English as schei, meaning easily startled. It is related to German scheu, which has the same meaning.

Checked against: Wiktionary, the free dictionary, Dictionary.com.

How to remember it

Shy is a tiny word with hi hidden in its sound: a shy person finds it hard to say hi first.

Test yourself

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