blate

Meanings

1. 1adjectivecomparableScottishdialect

   Shy and nervous around other people, hesitant to speak up or push yourself forward.

   Grammar: Used before a noun or after a verb: a blate lad, he was blate.

   Patterns

   • blate to do something
   • a blate person

   The blate boy hid behind his mother when the guests arrived.

   She was too blate to ask for a dance.

   He grew up blate and quiet in a small northern village.

2. 2adjectivecomparablearchaicScottish

   Slow, backward or hesitant in doing something.

   Grammar: A less common, older Scots sense about slowness to act.

   Patterns

   • blate in doing something

   Don't be blate about speaking your mind.

   Some neighbors were blate in offering any help.

   The shopkeeper was blate to come forward with the news.

Common combinations

blate and shy

The new boy was blate and shy at first.

too blate

He was too blate to speak to the visitors.

a blate lad

The poem describes a blate lad courting a girl.

look blate

She looked blate when the teacher asked her to read aloud.

not blate

He was not blate about asking for the biggest slice.

Synonyms and how they differ

bashful

Bashful is the standard English word for easily embarrassed, while blate is a Scots dialect word.

timid

Timid suggests fearfulness in general, whereas blate is mainly shyness in company.

diffident

Diffident is formal and suggests a lack of self-confidence, while blate is dialect and homely.

coy

Coy often implies pretended shyness, and blate does not.

Opposites

Commonly confused: blate or blatant? blate or late?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “blate”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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