Past tense of shy
regular verb
The past tense of shy is shied. The past participle is also shied.
Forms of shy
| Base form (V1) | shy /ʃaɪ/ |
|---|---|
| Past tense (V2) | shied /ʃaɪd/ |
| Past participle (V3) | shied /ʃaɪd/ |
| Present participle | shying |
| Third person singular | shies |
Shied in a sentence
- The horse shied at the unexpected approach of a motor vehicle.
- Bill Clinton has never shied away from displays of dewy-eyed, lip-biting sentimentality.2000 June 12, Romesh Ratnesar, “The Victory Lap?”, in Time Europe. From the entry dewy-eyed
- In his youth, he shied away from his name, red suits, beards and children carrying wish lists.1991 December 26, “Dallas Man Finds Christmas Spirit Has His Name”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company…. From the entry Claus
- Cocoanuts are shied at all the four corners of the world.1923, Paul Rosenfeld, Musical Chronicle (1917–1923), page 81. From the entry apess
- A self-described acrophobe who shied away from the precipices of the skyscrapers he was constructing, he loved piloting his own airplanes.2016 February 11, David W. Dunlap, “John Tishman, an Acrophobe Who Took the Manhattan Skyline to New Heights”, in The New York Times…. From the entry acrophobe
Meaning of shy
- adjective Easily frightened; timid.
- adjective Reserved; disinclined to familiar approach.
- adjective Cautious; wary; suspicious.
Questions about the past tense of shy
- What is the past tense of shy?
- The past tense of shy is shied.
- What is the past participle of shy?
- The past participle of shy is shied.
- Is shy a regular or irregular verb?
- Shy is a regular verb: its past tense changes -y to -ied.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: shy (page history and authors) and the entries of its forms. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws left out forms marked obsolete, archaic, rare or dialectal and added the examples. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “Past tense of shy.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/past-tense/shy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.