Meaning & use
shy
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Nervous or uneasy around other people, especially people you do not know well.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: a shy child, or She is shy.
Patterns
- shy of someone
- shy about doing something
- shy with someone
He was too shy to ask her name.
The shy girl hid behind her mother.
I feel shy about speaking in public.
verbintransitive
To jump back suddenly in fear, usually said of a horse.
Grammar: No object; often with at: the horse shied at the noise.
Patterns
- shy at something
The horse shied when the truck passed.
The pony shied at the plastic bag.
adjectiveafter a verbinformal
Slightly short of an amount or target.
Grammar: Used after a linking verb with of: shy of a goal.
Patterns
- shy of something
We were two dollars shy of the price.
The team finished shy of the record.
Word forms
| comparative | shyer |
|---|---|
| superlative | shyest |
| third person singular | shies |
| past tense | shied |
| past participle | shied |
| -ing form | shying |
Common combinations
- painfully shy
- He is painfully shy.
- shy away from
- She shies away from attention.
- shy smile
- He gave a shy smile.
- naturally shy
- She is naturally shy.
- bit shy
- I'm a bit shy.
Synonyms and how they differ
- timid
- Timid suggests fearfulness, while shy focuses on social unease.
- reserved
- Reserved means keeping feelings private, and is not always fearful.
- bashful
- Bashful is a gentler, slightly old-fashioned word for sweetly shy.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: shy or introverted?
shy vs introverted
Introverted describes someone who prefers quiet, while shy describes nervousness around people.
Practice
She was too ___ to speak up in class, even though she knew the answer.
Choose one answer.
Shy fits nervousness around others. Eager would mean wanting to speak.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “shy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.