coy

(koi)

adj. coy·er, coy·est

a. Affectedly and often flirtatiously shy or modest: "I pictured myself as some sylvan deity, and she a coy wood nymph of whom I was in pursuit" (Washington Irving).

b. Characterized by or suggesting such shyness or modesty: "How absurd I must have looked standing there before him ... a coy little simper on my foolish young face" (Jane Avrich).

2. Unwilling to make a commitment or divulge information: "As a child, when I asked my mother her age she was coy and evasive" (Lynne Sharon Schwartz).

3. Tending to avoid people and social situations; reserved: "The children were staring up at him, too coy to question him and too curious not to stare" (Edwidge Danticat).

[Middle English, from Old French quei, coi, quiet, still, from Vulgar Latin *quētus, from Latin quiētus, past participle of quiēscere, to rest; see k^weiə- in Indo-European roots.]

coy′ly adv.

coy′ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

coyness - the affectation of being demure in a provocative way

demureness

affectedness - the quality of being false or artificial (as to impress others)

coyness

noun shyness, reserve, modesty, timidity, affectation, diffidence, prudery, evasiveness, prudishness, bashfulness, skittishness, primness, archness, prissiness (informal), coquettishness, demureness She discusses sexual matters without a trace of coyness.

Quotations
"Had we but world enough, and time"
"This coyness, lady, were no crime" [Andrew Marvell To his Coy Mistress]

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

coyness

noun

An awkwardness or lack of self-confidence in the presence of others:

backwardness, bashfulness, retiringness, shyness, timidity, timidness.

Translations

خَجَل، حَياء

ostýchavost

blyhedkokethed

Schüchternheit

timidité

feimni

timidezza

hanblivosť

utangaçlık

怕羞腼腆

coyness

[ˈkɔɪnɪs] N

1. (= demureness) → timidez f (pej) (= coquettishness) → coquetería f

2. (= evasiveness) → evasivas fpl, reticencias fpl

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

coyness

[ˈkɔɪnɪs] n

(= coquettishness) → coquetterie f

(= reticence) → réserve f

coyness

n (= shyness) → Verschämtheit f; (= coquettishness) → neckisches or kokettes Benehmen; (= evasiveness) → ausweichende Haltung

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

coyness

[ˈkɔɪnɪs] n (affected shyness) → falsa timidezza; (evasiveness) → evasività; (coquetry) → civetteria

coy

(koi) adjective

(pretending to be) shy. She gave her brother's friend a coy smile.

ˈcoyly adverb

ˈcoyness noun