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Definition of "shy" []

  • Easily startled; timid. (adjective)
  • Drawing back from contact or familiarity with others; retiring or reserved. (adjective)
  • Marked by reserve or diffidence: a shy glance. (adjective)
  • Distrustful; wary: shy of strangers. (adjective)
  • Not having paid an amount due, as one's ante in poker. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "shy" in a sentence
  • "V. i.54 (121,7) [as shy, as grave, as just, as absolute] _As shy_; as reserved, as abstracted: _as just_; as nice, as exact: _as absolute_; as complete in all the round of duty."
  • "Most experts suggest that the term "shy" should not be used as a label."
  • "William Sears, a well-known author and pediatrician, feels very strongly that the term "shy" should be avoided."