play coy

idiom

US
: to avoid giving a direct or complete answer
When asked about his next book, he played coy.

Examples of play coy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Many celebrities play coy when asked controversial questions. USA TODAY, 9 Sep. 2023 Morgan and director Kelley Kali (taking over for the short’s director, Meredith Alloway) don’t play coy with the audience about what’s actually happening. Noel Murray, Los Angeles Times, 16 June 2023 Alas, the gauges, depending upon your driving position, may play coy with your line of sight through the artful steering wheel. Larry Griffin, Car and Driver, 14 May 2023 Morgan and director Kelley Kali (taking over for the short’s director, Meredith Alloway) don’t play coy with the audience about what’s actually happening. Noel Murray, Los Angeles Times, 16 June 2023 Alas, the gauges, depending upon your driving position, may play coy with your line of sight through the artful steering wheel. Larry Griffin, Car and Driver, 14 May 2023 Have to play coy with them with information? Andrew Gillis, cleveland, 28 Nov. 2022 Initially, Liaison‘s tendency to play coy about its central couple’s history works to its advantage. Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Feb. 2023 Intel didn't play coy about its intentions. Sam MacHkovech and Andrew Cunningham, Ars Technica, 5 Oct. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'play coy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Dictionary Entries Near play coy

Cite this Entry

“Play coy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/play%20coy. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!