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Recent Examples of gun-shy
The writers gave The X-Files an award back in 1996 when the overall Academy was gun-shy about voting for it in Outstanding Drama.
—
Joe Reid, Vulture, 2 Aug. 2025
Underneath the puns and pumps was a dress-down of the rom-com that ultimately told the story of a woman who fell in love, came out worse, and became gun-shy.
—Mathew Rodriguez, Them., 30 May 2025
Major studios have grown gun-shy about funding anything remotely risky; even a risk well taken can prompt a knee-jerk, scornful reaction from not only the executives but also the press: The film could, even should, have done better.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 25 Apr. 2025
Nintendo has been famously gun-shy of live-action adaptations — or adaptations in general — after the abysmal 1993 Super Mario Bros. film tanked.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 28 Mar. 2025
But that ending has yet to be printed: in a documentary climate in which corporations are growing increasingly gun-shy, The Stringer does not yet have a distributor.
—Steven Zeitchik, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Jan. 2025
Harris dropped out of the 2020 presidential race early (followed later by her fellow female candidates, senators Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren), and some pundits speculated that Democratic primary voters were gun-shy of nominating another woman after Hillary Clinton’s loss in 2016.
—Kathleen Walsh, Glamour, 21 July 2024
The Price of Entry Apart from elevated risks, there are several other reasons why international firms are likely to remain gun-shy about India.
—Arvind Subramanian, Foreign Affairs, 9 Dec. 2022
Digital transformation made employers more selective and gun-shy about entry-level hiring, but generative AI will take it to a new level.
—Ryan Craig, Forbes, 21 Apr. 2023
Joe Reid, Vulture, 2 Aug. 2025
Underneath the puns and pumps was a dress-down of the rom-com that ultimately told the story of a woman who fell in love, came out worse, and became gun-shy.
—Mathew Rodriguez, Them., 30 May 2025
Major studios have grown gun-shy about funding anything remotely risky; even a risk well taken can prompt a knee-jerk, scornful reaction from not only the executives but also the press: The film could, even should, have done better.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 25 Apr. 2025
Nintendo has been famously gun-shy of live-action adaptations — or adaptations in general — after the abysmal 1993 Super Mario Bros. film tanked.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 28 Mar. 2025
But that ending has yet to be printed: in a documentary climate in which corporations are growing increasingly gun-shy, The Stringer does not yet have a distributor.
—Steven Zeitchik, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Jan. 2025
Harris dropped out of the 2020 presidential race early (followed later by her fellow female candidates, senators Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren), and some pundits speculated that Democratic primary voters were gun-shy of nominating another woman after Hillary Clinton’s loss in 2016.
—Kathleen Walsh, Glamour, 21 July 2024
The Price of Entry Apart from elevated risks, there are several other reasons why international firms are likely to remain gun-shy about India.
—Arvind Subramanian, Foreign Affairs, 9 Dec. 2022
Digital transformation made employers more selective and gun-shy about entry-level hiring, but generative AI will take it to a new level.
—Ryan Craig, Forbes, 21 Apr. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gun-shy
Adjective
-
From the start, two things are abundantly clear: Indy is wary of the creepy old house, and his affection for Todd is unwavering.—
Christian Blauvelt,
IndieWire,
18 Aug. 2025
-
Americans have long been wary of using the military in local law enforcement, and for good reason.—
Margaret Talbot,
New Yorker,
17 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Wall Street has long been leery of Palantir’s runaway valuation.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
4 Aug. 2025
-
Ironheart, though, has yet to be renewed, and the way that the series — which wrapped filming back in late 2022 — was slow-walked onto our screens has many leery of Marvel’s future plans for Riri & Co.—
Matt Webb Mitovich,
TVLine,
3 July 2025
Adjective
-
Be cautious when corresponding with unfamiliar accounts.—
Tamia Fowlkes,
jsonline.com,
14 Aug. 2025
-
To be sure, companies are opting for cautious messaging around AI and its labor implications.—
Pia Singh,
CNBC,
13 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Navigating this revolution responsibly requires careful policy, support for adaptation and a focus on using technology to benefit people.—
Vaibhav Dani,
Forbes.com,
18 Aug. 2025
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Be careful when handling debris that may have blown into your yard.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
17 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Heart Age May Not Be the Perfect Metric However, some experts are more skeptical.—
Kristen Fischer,
Health,
9 Aug. 2025
-
Not only are voters more skeptical of media reports and talking points, OBBBA supporters have much more time to counter misinformation than was the case with the TCJA.—
Patrick Gleason,
Forbes.com,
8 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Be distrustful of issues related to politics, religion and even your friends and relatives, because something is not right today.—
Georgia Nicols,
Denver Post,
5 Aug. 2025
-
Ethnic and religious minority groups remain distrustful of Sharaa, and the majority-Druze community in Sweida had been one of the major holdouts in demilitarizing, along with Kurdish militias in Syria's northeast who are in negotiations over how to merge with the national military.—
Emily Feng,
NPR,
31 July 2025
Adjective
-
Designed to push boundaries, this scotch is made from a blend of single malts concocted under the watchful eye of Master Blender Michael Henry.—
Hudson Lindenberger,
Forbes.com,
30 July 2025
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Rashford took part in a workout with his new team-mates under Flick’s watchful eye.—
Dermot Corrigan,
New York Times,
25 July 2025
Adjective
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Goldman downgraded the Club stock to hold from buy, saying this is now a show-me story.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
30 Apr. 2025
-
For various examples and further detailed indications about the nature and use of the show-me versus tell-me prompting strategy, see my coverage at the link here.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
9 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Gun-shy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gun-shy. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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