Word.ws English Dictionary

gun-shy

gun-shy is the alternative form of gunshy.

Meaning of gunshy

Adjective

gunshy (comparative more gunshy, superlative most gunshy)

  1. Afraid to use a gun.
  2. Frightened by the sound of gunfire.
    • But very few dogs become gunshy if they are introduced to the bang while they are overcome with the delight of chasing game, particularly if the trainer begins with a light noise and works up to louder noises in easy stages2007, Paul Long, Training Pointing Dogs, 2nd edition, page 38
  3. (figuratively) Fearing the consequences of repeating an act, especially after being reprimanded.
    • After his last suggestion was laughed at by his colleagues, he was gunshy about making another suggestion.

Forms of gun-shy

comparativemore gun-shy
superlativemost gun-shy

Phrases with gun-shy

Questions about gun-shy

What is gun-shy the alternative form of?
Gun-shy is the alternative form of gunshy.

Words near gun-shy in the dictionary

  1. gun-metals
  2. Gun-ob
  3. gun-paper
  4. gun-papers
  5. gun-rights
  6. gun-shy
  7. gun-stick
  8. gun-sticks
  9. gun-toting
  10. gun-type
  11. gun-type bomb

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: gun-shy (page history and authors); gunshy (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “gun-shy.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gun-shy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.