shy
from
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
shy
adj 1: 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}]
2: short; "eleven is one shy of a dozen"
3: wary and distrustful; disposed to avoid persons or things;
"shy of strangers"
n 1: a quick throw; "he gave the ball a shy to the first
baseman"
v 1: start suddenly, as from fright
2: throw quickly
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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]
from
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
321 Moby Thesaurus words for "shy":
Pyrrhonic, 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, 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
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