shy

1. 1.

   start suddenly, as from fright

   Broaderstartle
2. 2.

   throw quickly

   Broaderthrow

1. 1.

   a quick throw

   “he gave the ball a shy to the first baseman”

   Broaderthrow

Other forms of shy

plural

shies·

past tense or participle

shied

present participle

shying·

comparative or superlative

shier

comparative or superlative

shiest

comparative or superlative

shyer

comparative or superlative

shyest

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about shy

What does shy mean?

shy means "lacking self-confidence". That is the primary sense; the word has 6 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in shy?

shy has 1 syllable: shy. In IPA it is /ˈʃaɪ/.

What is another word for shy?

Close synonyms include diffident, timid, unsure. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is shy a common word?

shy is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.