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Definition of shy :
1. A side throw; a throw; a fling.
2. A sudden start aside, as by a horse.
3. Cautious; wary; suspicious.
4. Easily frightened; timid; as, a shy bird.
5. Inadequately supplied; short; lacking; as, the team is shy two players.
6. Reserved; coy; disinclined to familiar approach.
7. To start suddenly aside through fright or suspicion; - said especially of horses.
8. To throw sidewise with a jerk; to fling; as, to shy a stone; to shy a slipper.
Synonyms:
timorous, short, scarce, wanting, excess, shrink, self-effacing, approach, under, flinch, wince, retiring, unconfident, recoil, faint, cringe, backward, wary, quail, restraint, incertain, faint-hearted, start, deficient, blench, insufficient, big, fainthearted, inadequate
irresolute (part of speech: adjective)
shrinking, uncertain, ambivalent, undecided, shifty, watery, inconsistent, hesitant, dillydallying, infirm, spineless, indecisive, irresolute, irresponsible, vacillating, unsure, insipid, flitting, yellow, weak, impulsive, capricious, volatile, changeable, erratic, double-minded, unwilling, shilly-shally, unresolved, halfhearted, fly-by-night, tentative, fickle, undependable
modest (part of speech: adjective)
selfless, timid, bashful, demure, modest, coy, reserved, meek, diffident, undemonstrative, humble, unobtrusive, unselfish, unassertive
Usage examples:
- I believe she was a woman of pleasure, but was shy enough to me, and so I saw her go out afterwards, and I took a hackney coach, and away. - "Diary of Samuel Pepys, Complete Transcribed From The Shorthand Manuscript In The Pepysian Library Magdalene College Cambridge By The Rev. Mynors Bright", Samuel Pepys Commentator: Lord Braybrooke.
- He is only a curate and looks very shy. - "Lalage's Lovers 1911", George A. Birmingham.
- Did you ever think that he might be shy, too? - "Ralestone Luck", Andre Norton.