shyness

shy ¹  (sh)

adj. shi·er (shr) or shy·er, shi·est (shst) or shy·est

1. Easily startled; timid.

2.

a. Drawing back from contact or familiarity with others; retiring or reserved.

b. Marked by reserve or diffidence: a shy glance.

3. Distrustful; wary: shy of strangers.

4. Not having paid an amount due, as one's ante in poker.

5. Short; lacking: Eleven is one shy of a dozen.

intr.v. shied (shd), shy·ing, shies (shz)

1. To move suddenly, as if startled; start.

2. To draw back, as from fear or caution; recoil.

n. pl. shies (shz)

A sudden movement, as from fright; a start.

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[Middle English schey, from Old English scoh.]

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shyer n.

shyly adv.

shyness n.

Synonyms: shy¹, bashful, diffident, modest, coy, demure
These adjectives mean not forward but marked by a retiring nature, reticence, or a reserve of manner. One who is shy draws back from others, either because of a withdrawn nature or out of timidity: "The poor man was shy and hated society" George Bernard Shaw.
Bashful suggests self-consciousness or awkwardness in the presence of others: "I never laughed, being bashful./Lowering my head, I looked at the wall" Ezra Pound.
Diffident implies lack of self-confidence: He was too diffident to express his opinion.
Modest is associated with an unassertive nature and absence of vanity or pretension: Despite her fame she remained a modest, unassuming person.
Coy usually implies feigned, often flirtatious shyness: "yielded with coy submission" John Milton.
Demure often denotes an affected shyness or modesty: Her assistant nodded in agreement, flashing a demure smile.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

shyness - a feeling of fear of embarrassment timidity, timidness, timorousness - fear of the unknown or unfamiliar or fear of making decisions

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shyness

noun timidity, self-consciousness, bashfulness, modesty, nervousness, lack of confidence, reticence, diffidence, timorousness, mousiness, timidness

Translations

shyness [ˈʃaɪnɪs] n → timidez f

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shyness [ˈʃaɪnɪs] n → timidité f

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shyness [ˈʃaɪnɪs] shy n → Schüchternheit f, Scheu f

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shyness [ˈʃaɪnɪs] n → timidezza