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shy

Definition

  • verb: to move away from something because of fear
  • verb: to develop or show a dislike or distaste
  • adjective: feeling nervous and uncomfortable about meeting and talking to people
  • adjective: easily frightened
  • usually used with 'from' or 'away from'
  • synonyms: timid, reserved, coy

Examples

  • He was two weeks 'shy of' his 19th birthday when he joined the army.

  • The ball stopped just a few inches 'shy of' the hole.

  • He's three credits 'shy of' his bachelor's degree.

Movie clips

Movie quotes

  • (..) what we call poems, being merely pictures. The poems of the privacy of the night. And of men like me. This poem, drooping shy and unseen, that I always carry. And that all men carry." Not bad for Whitman. Hey, look, we got a visitor. (..)
    2004 The Notebook