Entry Word: shy

Function: adjective

Meaning: 1 easily frightened <a shy cat who hid under the bed every time she heard any loud noise>

Synonyms fainthearted, fearful, mousy (or mousey), scary, skittish, timid, timorous

Related Words chicken, chickenhearted, cowardly, craven, dastardly, lily-livered, jittery, jumpy, pusillanimous, spineless, unheroic, yellow; anxious, apprehensive, nervous; afraid, alarmed, horrified, panicked, panicky, scared, shocked, spooked, startled, terrified, terrorized

Near Antonyms brave, courageous, dauntless, doughty, fearless, gallant, greathearted, heroic, intrepid, lionhearted, stalwart, stout, stouthearted, valiant, valorous; assured, confident, self-assured, self-confident; determined, firm, game, plucky, resolute, unflinching, unswerving; mettlesome, spirited, spunky

Antonyms adventuresome, adventurous, audacious, bold, daring, dashing, gutsy, hardy, venturous, venturesome

2 not comfortable around people <a shy person who finds talking to anyone but a close friend to be an awkward and unpleasant experience>

Synonyms bashful, coy, demure, diffident, introverted, modest, retiring, sheepish

Related Words antisocial, unsociable, unsocial; awkward, embarrassed, self-conscious, unadventurous, unassertive, unenterprising; inhibited, reserved, uneasy, uptight

Near Antonyms convivial, sociable, social; bold, dashing, forceful; brash, forward, uninhibited, unreserved

Antonyms extroverted (also extraverted), immodest, outgoing

3 not coming up to a usual standard or meeting a particular need <the team is shy a couple of players because of illness> — see short 3