shy

Plural: shies

Noun

a quick throw
- "he gave the ball a shy to the first baseman"
An act of throwing.
A place for throwing.
A sudden start aside, as by a horse.
In the Eton College wall game, a point scored by lifting the ball against the wall in the calx.
A throw-in from the sidelines, using two hands above the head.
In shinty, the act of tossing the ball above the head and hitting it with the shaft of the caman to bring it back into play after it has been hit out of the field.
A gibe; a sneer.

Verb

Verb Forms: shied, shying, shies

To move or jump suddenly due to fear or nervousness.
start suddenly, as from fright
throw quickly
To avoid due to caution, embarrassment or timidness.
To jump back in fear.
To throw sideways with a jerk; to fling.
To throw a ball with two hands above the head, especially when it has crossed the side lines in a football (soccer) match.
To hit the ball back into play from the sidelines in a shinty match.

Adjective

Easily frightened; timid or reserved in social situations.
lacking self-confidence

Adjective Satellite

short
- "eleven is one shy of a dozen"
wary and distrustful; disposed to avoid persons or things
- "shy of strangers"

Adj

Easily frightened; timid.
Reserved; disinclined to familiar approach.
Cautious; wary; suspicious.
Short, insufficient or less than.
Embarrassed.
Less likely to reveal whom they will vote for than average, chiefly in the context of the collective effect this has on polling accuracy.

Examples

By our count your shipment came up two shy of the bill of lading amount.
coconut shy
He is very shy with strangers.
He would often shy away from playing a challenging ’Q’ word, opting for easier points.
It is just shy of a mile from here to their house.
Pollsters need to remember the shy Tory factor.
shy a slipper
Some players are shy about using unfamiliar words, sticking to common ones.
The horse shied at the unexpected approach of a motor vehicle.
to shy a stone

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English shy (“shy”), from Old English sċēoh (“shy”), from Proto-West Germanic *skeuh (“shy, fearful”), from Proto-Germanic *skeuhaz (“shy, fearful”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian skjou (“shy”), Dutch schuw (“shy”), German scheu (“shy”), Danish sky (“shy”).
Etymology tree
Middle English shy
English shy

Synonyms

diffident, timid, unsure, abashed, bashful, bookish, bowl, bung, cast, chuck, chunk, cook, coy, dash, distant, dump, embarrassed, feck, fling, heave, hesitant, hield, hoy, huck, hurl, hurtle, jerk, launch, lob, mousy, passive, peck, peg, pick, pitch, precipitate, project, quiet, quoit, reclusive, retiring, shamefast, sheep-faced, sheepish, shy, shy away, skew, slight, sling, start, startle, submissive, thrill, throw, toss, traject, uncommunicative, warp, whang, whip, whop, wing

Antonyms

confident, adventurous, audacious, barefaced, bold, brave, brazen, cheeky, courageous, fearless, forward#Adjective, gregarious, immodest, impudent, outgoing, unblushing, unshy

Scrabble Score: 9

shy: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
shy: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
shy: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 7

shy: valid Words With Friends Word