shy

Universal Words adjective, verb adjective (shyer, shyest) 1 (of people) nervous or embarrassed about meeting and speaking to other people: a quiet, shy man * Don't be shy-come and say hello. * She was too shy to ask anyone for help. * As a teenager I was painfully shy. * She's very shy with adults. 2 showing that sb is nervous or embarrassed about meeting and speaking to other people: a shy smile / glance 3 (of animals) easily frightened and not willing to come near people: The panda is a shy creature. 4 [notbeforenoun] ~ of / about (doing) sth afraid of doing sth or being involved in sth: The band has never been shy of publicity. * He disliked her and had never been shy of saying so. 5 [notbeforenoun] ~ (of sth) (informal, especially AmE) lacking the amount that is needed: He died before Christmas, only a month shy of his 90th birthday. * We are still two players shy (of a full team). * Jaguar sold 21000 cars in the US last year, well shy of the 82000 sold by Mercedes. 6 (-shy) (in compounds) avoiding or not liking the thing mentioned: camera-shy (= not liking to be photographed) * He's always been work-shy. shyly adverb: She smiled shyly. shyness noun [U]: He tried to overcome his shyness. IDIOMS see FIGHTv., ONCEadv. verb (shies, shying, shied, shied ) [V] ~ (at sth) (especially of a horse) to turn away suddenly because of fear or surprise: My horse shied at the unfamiliar noise. seealsoCOCONUTSHY PHRASALVERBS shy away (from sth) to avoid doing sth because you are nervous or frightened: Hugh never shied away from his responsibilities. * The newspapers have shied away from investigating the story.