'Shy' definitions:
Definition of 'shy'
From: WordNet
adjective
Lacking self-confidence; "stood in the doorway diffident and abashed"; "problems that call for bold not timid responses"; "a very unsure young man" [syn: diffident, shy, timid, unsure] [ant: confident]
adjective
Short; "eleven is one shy of a dozen"
adjective
Wary and distrustful; disposed to avoid persons or things; "shy of strangers"
noun
A quick throw; "he gave the ball a shy to the first baseman"
verb
Start suddenly, as from fright
verb
Throw quickly
Definition of 'Shy'
From: GCIDE
- Shy \Shy\, v. t. To throw sidewise with a jerk; to fling; as, to shy a stone; to shy a slipper. --T. Hughes. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Shy'
From: GCIDE
- Shy \Shy\, n.
- 1. A sudden start aside, as by a horse. [1913 Webster]
- 2. A side throw; a throw; a fling. --Thackeray. [1913 Webster]
- If Lord Brougham gets a stone in his hand, he must, it seems, have a shy at somebody. --Punch. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Shy'
From: GCIDE
- Shy \Shy\ (sh[imac]), a. [Compar. Shier (sh[imac]"[~e]r) or Shyer; superl. Shiest or Shyest.] [OE. schey, skey, sceouh, AS. sce['o]h; akin to Dan. sky, Sw. skygg, D. schuw, MHG. schiech, G. scheu, OHG. sciuhen to be or make timid. Cf. Eschew.]
- 1. Easily frightened; timid; as, a shy bird. [1913 Webster]
- The horses of the army . . . were no longer shy, but would come up to my very feet without starting. --Swift. [1913 Webster]
- 2. Reserved; coy; disinclined to familiar approach. [1913 Webster]
- What makes you so shy, my good friend? There's nobody loves you better than I. --Arbuthnot. [1913 Webster]
- The embarrassed look of shy distress And maidenly shamefacedness. --Wordsworth. [1913 Webster]
- 3. Cautious; wary; suspicious. [1913 Webster]
- I am very shy of using corrosive liquors in the preparation of medicines. --Boyle. [1913 Webster]
- Princes are, by wisdom of state, somewhat shy of thier successors. --Sir H. Wotton. [1913 Webster]
- 4. Inadequately supplied; short; lacking; as, the team is shy two players.[Slang] [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
- 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] [PJC]
- To fight shy. See under Fight, v. i. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Shy'
From: GCIDE
Synonyms of 'shy'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- about the bush,
- afraid,
- agnostic,
- apprehensive,
- around the bush,
- arrested,
- averse,
- avert,
- avoid,
- back down,
- backhanded,
- backward,
- balance,
- balk,
- bankrupt in,
- bare of,
- bashful,
- be startled,
- bear off,
- beat about,
- beat around,
- beg the question,
- bereft of,
- bicker,
- bilk,
- blench,
- blink,
- boggle,
- boggling,
- bowl,
- cagey,
- callow,
- cast,
- cast at,
- catapult,
- cautious,
- cavil,
- chary,
- choplogic,
- chuck,
- chuck at,
- chunk,
- circumspect,
- confused,
- conscious,
- cowardly,
- coy,
- cringe,
- dart,
- dash,
- debate,
- defective,
- deficient,
- deliberate,
- demur,
- demure,
- demurring,
- denuded of,
- deprived of,
- destitute of,
- devoid of,
- diffident,
- distrustful,
- dodge,
- double,
- doubtful,
- doubting,
- draw aside,
- draw back,
- draw in,
- dubious,
- duck,
- ease off,
- edge off,
- elude,
- embryonic,
- empty of,
- equivocate,
- eschew,
- evade,
- evade the issue,
- fade,
- failing,
- fall back,
- falter,
- faltering,
- fear,
- fearful,
- fearing,
- fearsome,
- fence,
- fight shy,
- fight shy of,
- fire,
- fire at,
- flinch,
- fling,
- fling at,
- flip,
- fly off,
- for want of,
- fork,
- forlorn of,
- from Missouri,
- gag,
- gee,
- glance,
- glance off,
- go off,
- goosy,
- hang back,
- hang off,
- have qualms,
- haw,
- head off,
- heave,
- heave at,
- hedge,
- hem and haw,
- hesitant,
- hesitate,
- hesitating,
- hold off,
- hover,
- hum and haw,
- hurl,
- hurl against,
- hurl at,
- hurtle,
- hypoplastic,
- immature,
- in arrear,
- in arrears,
- in default,
- in default of,
- in doubt,
- in fear,
- in short supply,
- in want of,
- inadequate,
- inarticulate,
- incomplete,
- indisposed,
- infant,
- insufficient,
- introversive,
- introvert,
- introverted,
- jerk,
- jib,
- jump,
- jump a mile,
- jumpy,
- lacking,
- lance,
- launch,
- leery,
- let fly,
- let fly at,
- loath,
- lob,
- make bones about,
- make way for,
- missing,
- mistrustful,
- mistrusting,
- modest,
- mousy,
- move aside,
- mystify,
- needing,
- nervous,
- nitpick,
- obscure,
- out of,
- out of pocket,
- palter,
- panic,
- parry,
- part,
- partial,
- pass,
- patchy,
- pause,
- peg,
- pelt,
- pick nits,
- pitch,
- pitchfork,
- ponder,
- pot,
- prevaricate,
- pull away,
- pull back,
- pull in,
- pull out,
- pussyfoot,
- put,
- put off,
- put the shot,
- Pyrrhonic,
- quail,
- qualmish,
- questioning,
- quibble,
- rabbity,
- recoil,
- reel back,
- reluctant,
- reserved,
- retiring,
- retract,
- retreat,
- scant,
- scant of,
- scanty,
- scarce,
- scary,
- scrappy,
- scruple,
- scrupulous,
- self-conscious,
- self-distrustful,
- self-effacing,
- serve,
- shaky,
- shamefaced,
- shamefast,
- sheepish,
- sheer off,
- shift,
- shift off,
- shilly-shally,
- shivery,
- short,
- short of,
- shove aside,
- shrink,
- shrink back,
- shrinking,
- shuffle,
- shun,
- shunt,
- shy at,
- shy away,
- shy of,
- shy off,
- side,
- sidestep,
- sideswipe,
- sidetrack,
- sidle,
- skedaddle,
- skeptical,
- sketchy,
- skittery,
- skittish,
- sling,
- sling at,
- snap,
- split hairs,
- squeamish,
- stammering,
- stampede,
- start,
- start aside,
- start back,
- startle,
- startlish,
- steer clear of,
- step aside,
- stick,
- stick at,
- stickle,
- stickling,
- stop to consider,
- straddle the fence,
- strain,
- strain at,
- stumble,
- suspecting,
- suspicious,
- swerve,
- switch,
- tergiversate,
- think twice about,
- throw,
- throw at,
- tilt,
- timid,
- timorous,
- toss,
- toss at,
- trembling,
- tremulous,
- trepidant,
- trigger-happy,
- turn aside,
- turn away,
- turn back,
- unassertive,
- unassured,
- unblessed with,
- uncertain,
- underdeveloped,
- undeveloped,
- uneager,
- unpossessed of,
- untrusting,
- unwilling,
- veer off,
- void of,
- wanting,
- ward off,
- wary,
- waver,
- weasel,
- weasel out,
- wince,
- withdraw,
- yield