shye

Adjective

shy (comparative shier or shyer or more shy, superlative shiest or shyest or most shy)

1. Easily frightened; timid.
   • The horses of the army, and those of the royal stables, having been daily led before me, were no longer shy, but would come up to my very feet without starting.1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, (please specify |part=I to IV)

   Antonyms:

   bold, brave, confident, courageous, adventurous, fearless, unshy

2. Reserved; disinclined to familiar approach.
   • He is very shy with strangers.

   Antonyms:

   audacious, bold, cheeky, brazen, gregarious, outgoing, confident, forward, unshy

3. Cautious; wary; suspicious.
   • We grant, although he had much wit, / H' was very shy of using it; / As being loth to wear it out, / And therefore bore it not about,1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “. Canto I.”, in Hudibras, London; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge...
4. (informal) Short, insufficient or less than.
   • By our count your shipment came up two shy of the bill of lading amount.
5. (UK, US) Less likely to reveal whom they will vote for than average, chiefly in the context of the collective effect this has on polling accuracy.
   • Pollsters need to remember the shy Tory factor.

See all 18 meanings of shy