coy.
Bashful, shy, retiring.
Meaning & usage
Bashful, shy, retiring.
Quiet, reserved, modest.
Reluctant to give details about something sensitive; notably prudish.
Pretending shyness or modesty, especially in an insincere or flirtatious way.
Soft, gentle, hesitating.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English coy, from Old French coi, earlier quei (“quiet, still”), from Latin qu(i)ētus (“resting, at rest”). Doublet of quit, quiet, quite, and quietus.
To caress, pet; to coax, entice.
To calm or soothe.
To allure; to decoy.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English coy, from Old French coi, earlier quei (“quiet, still”), from Latin qu(i)ētus (“resting, at rest”). Doublet of quit, quiet, quite, and quietus.
A trap from which waterfowl may be hunted.
Where this word comes from
Compare decoy.
A company
Where this word comes from
Abbreviation of company.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.