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shyness

Variant of shy

adjective shyer or shier, shyest or shiest

  1. easily frightened or startled; timid
  2. not at ease with other people; extremely self-conscious; bashful
  3. showing distrust or caution; wary
  4. not bearing or breeding well, as some plants; unproductive
  5. Slang
    1. not having paid money due, as one's poker ante
    2. lacking; short (on or of)

intransitive verb shied, shying

  1. to move suddenly as when startled; jump; start; recoil: the horse shied at the gunshot
  2. to react negatively; be or become cautious or unwilling; draw back: often with at or from

noun pl. shies

an act of shying; start, as of a horse

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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