different between sociable vs shy

English

Etymology

From Middle French sociable, from Latin sociabilis.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?so???b?l/

Adjective

sociable (comparative more sociable, superlative most sociable)

1. (of a person) Tending to socialize or be social

   Synonyms: friendly, inviting, congenial

   • c. 1611, William Shakespeare, Cymbeline

     Society is no comfort to one not sociable.

2. Offering opportunities for conversation; characterized by much conversation.

3. (archaic) Capable of being, or fit to be, united in one body or company; associable.
   • 1594, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie

     They are sociable parts united into one body.

4. (obsolete) No longer hostile; friendly.

   • Is the King sociable And bids thee live ?

Antonyms

• (tending to socialize): unsociable

Derived terms

• sociability
• sociableness

Translations

Noun

sociable (plural sociables)

1. A sociable person.
2. (historical) A four-wheeled open carriage with seats facing each other.
3. A bicycle or tricycle for two persons side by side.
4. A couch with a curved S-shaped back.
5. (US) An informal party or church meeting for purposes of socializing.
   • 1903, George Horace Lorimer, Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to his Son (page 46)

     At the church sociables he used to hop around among them, chipping and chirping like a dicky-bird picking up seed; and he was a great hand to play the piano, and sing saddish, sweetish songs to them.

Asturian

Adjective

sociable (epicene, plural sociables)

1. sociable

Catalan

Adjective

sociable (masculine and feminine plural sociables)

1. sociable

French

Pronunciation

Adjective

sociable (plural sociables)

1. sociable

Galician

Alternative forms

• sociábel

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s?.??ja.ble/, [s??.??ja.?le?]

Adjective

sociable m or f (plural sociables)

1. sociable

Antonyms

• insociable

Spanish

Adjective

sociable (plural sociables)

1. sociable

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