shy
//ʃaɪ//
Forms
- Comparative
- shier
- Superlative
- shiest
- present (v1)
- shy
- past (v2)
- shied
- past participle (v3)
- shied
- present participle
- shying
- 3rd person singular
- shies
Definitions
1.Easily frightened; timid.
- The horses of the army, and those of the royal stables, having been daily led before me, were no longer shy, but would come up to my very feet without starting.
2.Reserved; disinclined to familiar approach.
- He is very shy with strangers.
3.Cautious; wary; suspicious.
- Princes are, by wisdom of state, somewhat shy of their successors.
4.Short, insufficient or less than.(informal)
- It is just shy of a mile from here to their house.
- By our count your shipment came up two shy of the bill of lading amount.
- United move seventh - still six points off a Champions League place and a massive 16 shy of the lead held by rivals Manchester City.
1.To avoid due to caution, embarrassment or timidness.
- Courts might tend to shy from limiting Congress under such a vague standard.
2.To jump back in fear.
- The horse shied at the unexpected approach of a motor vehicle.
3.To throw sideways with a jerk; to fling.
- "I was thinking, sir," I answered, "that I should like to shy the Diamond into the quicksand, and settle the question in that way."
- Then two or three boys laughed and sneered, and a big brutal fellow, who was standing in the middle of the room, picked up a slipper, and shied it at the kneeling boy, calling him a snivelling young shaver.
4.To throw a ball with two hands above the head, especially when it has crossed the side lines in a football (soccer) match.
Frequency
Overall
Rare· #4644
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Rare
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English shy (“shy”), from Old English sċēoh (“shy”), from Proto-West Germanic *skeuh (“shy, fearful”), from Proto-Germanic *skeuhaz (“shy, fearful”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian skjou (“shy”), Dutch schuw (“shy”), German scheu (“shy”), Danish sky (“shy”).