shy

/ʃai/

Thân thiện

A shy child hides behind her mother's leg.

Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Nervous or timid in the company of others: "shy" describes a person who feels uncomfortable, nervous, or lacks confidence in social situations.
   • Wary or distrustful: "shy" can indicate a cautious or hesitant attitude towards people or things.
   • Less than; short of: "shy" is used to indicate a deficiency or a lack of a required amount.

2. Noun:

   • A quick, sudden throw: In informal contexts, "shy" refers to a swift, often casual, throw of an object.

3. Verb:

   • To move suddenly aside from fear or surprise: "shy" describes the action of an animal or person starting and moving away quickly due to fright.
   • To throw quickly: "shy" means to toss or fling something with a quick, often underhand, motion.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:

  • She was too shy to speak in front of the large audience.
  • The deer is shy of humans and runs into the woods.
  • We are two people shy of forming a complete team.

• Noun:

  • He took a shy at the tin can with a stone.

• Verb:

  • The horse shied when it heard the loud noise.
  • He shied the empty bottle into the recycling bin.

Advanced Usage

• "shy away from (something)": to avoid doing something because of fear, hesitation, or lack of confidence.

  • He tends to shy away from difficult conversations.

• "shy of (a number/amount)": slightly less than or not quite reaching a particular number or amount.

  • The final score was just shy of 100 points.

• "once bitten, twice shy": (idiom) after an unpleasant experience, one is cautious to avoid a similar one.

  • After losing money in that investment, he's once bitten, twice shy about trying again.

Variants and Related Words

• Shyly (adverb): in a shy manner.

  • She smiled shyly from behind her book.

• Shyness (noun): the quality or state of being shy.

  • He overcame his shyness to give a great speech.

Synonyms

• Adjective: Timid, bashful, diffident, reticent, wary.
• Verb: Start, recoil, flinch, toss, chuck.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Shy away from: to avoid or be reluctant to engage with something.
  • Many investors are shying away from the volatile market.

Related Idioms

• Fight shy of: to deliberately avoid something.
  • She has always fought shy of public attention.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. wary and distrustful; disposed to avoid persons or things
   • shy of strangers
2. short
   • eleven is one shy of a dozen
3. lacking self-confidence
   • stood in the doorway diffident and abashed
   • problems that call for bold not timid responses
   • a very unsure young man

Noun

1. a quick throw
   • he gave the ball a shy to the first baseman

Verb

1. throw quickly
2. start suddenly, as from fright

Từ đồng nghĩa

• shy
• diffident
• timid
• unsure