different between afraid vs shy

English

Etymology

From Middle English affrayed, affraied, past participle of afraien (“to affray”), from Anglo-Norman afrayer (“to terrify, disquiet, disturb”), from Old French effreer, esfreer (“to disturb, remove the peace from”), from es- (“out”) +? freer (“to secure, secure the peace”), from Frankish *friþu (“security, peace”), from Proto-Germanic *friþuz (“peace”), from Proto-Germanic *frij?n? (“to free; to love”), from Proto-Indo-European *pr?y-, *pr?y- (“to like, love”). Synchronically analyzable as affray +? -ed. Compare also afeard. More at free, friend.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??f?e?d/
• Rhymes: -e?d

Adjective

afraid (comparative more afraid, superlative most afraid)

1. (usually used predicatively, not attributively, be afraid) Impressed with fear or apprehension; in fear.

   Synonyms: afeared, alarmed, anxious, apprehensive, fearful, timid, timorous; see also Thesaurus:afraid

2. (colloquial) Regretful, sorry.

   Synonym: sorry

3. (used with for) Worried about, feeling concern for, fearing for (someone or something).

Usage notes

• Afraid expresses a lesser degree of fear than terrified or frightened. It is often followed by the preposition of and the object of fear, or by an infinitive, or by a dependent clause, as shown in the examples above.

Derived terms

Related terms

• afear
• afeared
• affray
• fray

Translations

See also

• fear

Welsh

Etymology

af- (“un-”) +? rhaid (“necessity”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?avrai?d/

Adjective

afraid (feminine singular afraid, plural afraid, equative afreidied, comparative afreidiach, superlative afreidiaf)

1. unnecessary, unessential
   • c. 1500, Ieuan Tew, poem in Cwrt Mawr manuscript no. 5, published and translated 1921 by T. Gwynn Jones, “Cultural Bases. A Study of the Tudor Period in Wales”, Y Cymmrodor. The Magazine of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, vol. 31, page 182:

     mogelwch yma golyn
     a fo goeg, ag afu gwyn—
     a choegddyn crin, ledryn crach,
     o fradwr—nid afreidiach;

     beware of the sting of white-livered wretches, and every withered, niggardly wretch of a traitor—it were not less necessary;

   • c. 1600, Edmwnd Prys, quoted in A Welsh Grammar, Historical and Comparative by J. Morris Jones, Oxford: 1913, p. 44:

     Amlwg fydd tr?yn a’r wyneb;
     Afraid i ni nodi neb.

     Plain is the nose on a face; it is unnecessary for us to mention anyone.

Noun

afraid m (plural afreidiau)

1. superfluity, extravagance

Mutation

Further reading

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present) , “afraid”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

English

Etymology

From Middle English shy (“shy”), from Old English s??oh (“shy”), from Proto-West Germanic *skeuh (“shy, fearful”), from Proto-Germanic *skeuhaz (“shy, fearful”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian skjou (“shy”), Dutch schuw (“shy”), German scheu (“shy”), Danish sky (“shy”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?a?/
• Rhymes: -a?
• Homophone: Chi

Adjective

shy (comparative shier or shyer or more shy, superlative shiest or shyest or most shy)

1. Easily frightened; timid.
   • 1726, Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels

     The horses of the army, and those of the royal stables, having been daily led before me, were no longer shy, but would come up to my very feet without starting.

2. Reserved; disinclined to familiar approach.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:shy

   Antonyms: audacious, bold, brazen, gregarious, extroverted, outgoing

   • 1712, John Arbuthnot, The History of John Bull

     What makes you so shy, my good friend? There's nobody loves you better than I.

3. Cautious; wary; suspicious.
   • 1641, Henry Wotton, The Characters of Robert Devereux and George Villiers

     Princes are, by wisdom of state, somewhat shy of their successors.

   • 1661, Robert Boyle , Some Considerations Touching Experimental Essays in General

     I am very shy of building any thing of moment upon foundations

4. (informal) Short, insufficient or less than.
5. Embarrassed.

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Usage notes

• Often used in combination with a noun to produce an adjective or adjectival phrase.
• Adjectives are usually applicable to animals (leash-shy "shy of leashes" or head shy "shy of contact around the head" (of horses)) or to children.

Derived terms

• shy bairns get nowt, shy bairns get noot

Translations

See also

• bashful
• reserved
• timid
• demure
• coy

Verb

shy (third-person singular simple present shies, present participle shying, simple past and past participle shied)

1. (intransitive) To avoid due to caution or timidness.

2. (intransitive) To jump back in fear.

3. (transitive) To throw sideways with a jerk; to fling.

Translations

Noun

shy (plural shies)

1. An act of throwing.

   • Foker discharged a prodigious bouquet at her, and even Smirke made a feeble shy with a rose, and blushed dreadfully when it fell into the pit

   • 1846, Punch Volume 10

     If Lord Brougham gets a stone in his hand, he must, it seems, have a shy at somebody.

   • 2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin 2009, p. 55:

     The game had started. A man was chasing the ball, it went out for a shy.

2. A place for throwing.

3. A sudden start aside, as by a horse.
4. In the Eton College wall game, a point scored by lifting the ball against the wall in the calx.

Derived terms

• coconut shy
• have a shy

Translations

Anagrams

• Hys, hys, syh