coy

¹coy

adjective \ˈkȯi\

Definition of COY

1

a : shrinking from contact or familiarity <'tis but a kiss I beg, Why art thou coy? — William Shakespeare>

b : marked by cute, coquettish, or artful playfulness <using coy tricks to attract attention>

2

: showing reluctance to make a definite commitment <a coy response>

— coy·ly adverb

— coy·ness noun

Examples of COY

1. I didn't like her coy manner.
2. He gave a coy answer.
3. It is distinctly odd to read a whole page dedicated to Hitler's life and character without a reference to his anti-Semitism. To say that Swiss banks contained gold coming from the bank accounts, the jewelry boxes, and the teeth of “concentration camp victims” is a little coy. —Ian Buruma, New Republic, 31 Jan. 2000
4. Rival camps are terrified that Bush will reject federal matching funds and the campaign-spending limits they impose, and Bush's aides are coy on the subject. —John F. Dickerson, Time, 8 Mar. 1999
5. And there's Julia, the charming “chatterbot” (a text-based computer character), whose coy pickup banter echoes that of real-life Internet flirts. —Michiko Kakutani, Albany (New York) Times-Union, 20 Aug. 1997

Origin of COY

Middle English, quiet, shy, from Anglo-French quoi, quei, koi quiet, from Latin quietus

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to COY

Synonyms

coquettish, demure, kittenish

Antonyms

uncoy

Related Words

flirtatious, flirty, girlish; goody-goody, governessy, overmodest, priggish, prim, prudish

Near Antonyms

boon, clubbable (also clubable), companionable, convivial, gregarious, sociable, social; bold, dashing, forceful; brash, forward, overbold, uninhibited, unreserved

See Synonym Discussion at shy

Rhymes with COY

boy, buoy, cloy, foy, goy, hoy, joy, koi, oy, ploy, poi, Roy, soy, toy, troy, Troy

²coy

verb \ˈkȯi\

Definition of COY

transitive verb

obsolete

: caress

intransitive verb

archaic : to act coyly (see ¹coy)

Origin of COY

(see ¹coy)

First Known Use: 14th century