Advertisement
🇩🇪German Source WordCode: DE

scheu

Pronunciation / Transliteration: shoy

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Shy/ʃaɪ/
adjectiveverbCEFR A2 (Elementary)Top #2500 frequency
Full Thesaurus
🇩🇪 Example Sentence in German:

"Das kleine Mädchen war anfangs sehr scheu."

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As adjective
  1. 1

    Nervous or timid in the company of other people.

    "She was too shy to ask him to dance."
  2. 2

    Reluctant to do something.

    "He is never shy about expressing his opinions."
Advertisement

Thesaurus & Semantic Spectrum

Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

Derived from the Old English adjective 'scēoh', meaning timid or easily frightened, which shares roots with Proto-Germanic 'skeuhwa-'. Over centuries, the meaning shifted from being easily startled to the psychological disposition of being reserved, diffident, or cautious around other people.

Quick Vocabulary Retention Check

Which of the following is the closest synonym for "Shy"?

Advertisement
Thesaurus & Synonyms Graph

Explore Nuanced Synonyms for "Shy"

Discover exact matches, context-specific alternatives, and antonyms with intensity ratings in the VocabDictionary Thesaurus.

View "Shy" Synonym Map
Advertisement