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Apprehension vs Shy - What's the difference?

apprehension | shy |

As nouns the difference between apprehension and shy

is that apprehension is apprehension while shy is an act of throwing.

As an adjective shy is

easily frightened; timid.

As a verb shy is

to avoid due to timidness or caution.

apprehension

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • (rare) The physical act of seizing]] or [[take hold, taking hold of; seizure.
  • * 2006 , Phil Senter, "Comparison of Forelimb Function between Deinonychus'' and ''Babiraptor'' (Theropoda: Dromaeosauridea)", ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, vol. 26, no. 4 (Dec.), p. 905:
    • The wing would have been a severe obstruction to apprehension of an object on the ground.
  • (legal) The act of seizing or taking by legal process; arrest.
  • * 1855 , , North and South , ch. 37:
    • The warrant had been issued for his apprehension on the charge of rioting.
  • The act of grasping with the intellect; the contemplation of things, without affirming, denying, or passing any judgment; intellection; perception.
  • * 1815 , , "On Life," in A Defence of Poetry and Other Essays (1840 edition):
    • We live on, and in living we lose the apprehension of life.
  • Opinion; conception; sentiment; idea.
  • * 1901 , , Penelope's English Experiences , ch. 8:
    • We think we get a kind of vague apprehension of what London means from the top of a 'bus better than anywhere else.
  • The faculty by which ideas are conceived or by which perceptions are grasped; understanding.
  • * 1854 , , Hard Times , ch. 7:
    • Strangers of limited information and dull apprehension were sometimes observed not to know what a Powler was.
  • Anticipation, mostly of things unfavorable; dread or fear at the prospect of some future ill.
  • * 1846 , , Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life , ch. 32:
    • Every circumstance which evinced the savage nature of the beings at whose mercy I was, augmented the fearful apprehensions that consumed me.
    (Webster 1913)

    Usage notes

    * Apprehension'' springs from a sense of danger when somewhat remote, but approaching; ''alarm'' arises from danger when announced as near at hand. ''Apprehension'' is less agitated and more persistent; ''alarm is more agitated and transient.

    Synonyms

    * (anticipation of unfavorable things) alarm

    Antonyms

    * inapprehension

    References

    * * Oxford English Dictionary , 2nd ed., 1989.

    shy

    English

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Easily frightened; timid.
  • * Jonathan Swift
    • The horses of the army were no longer shy , but would come up to my very feet without starting.
  • Reserved; disinclined to familiar approach.
    • He is very shy with strangers.
  • * Arbuthnot
    • What makes you so shy , my good friend? There's nobody loves you better than I.
  • Cautious; wary; suspicious.
  • * Boyle
    • I am very shy of using corrosive liquors in the preparation of medicines.
  • * Sir H. Wotton
    • Princes are, by wisdom of state, somewhat shy of their successors.
  • Short, insufficient or less than.
    • By our count your shipment came up two shy of the bill of lading amount.
    It is just shy of a mile from here to their house.
  • Embarrassed.

    • See also

    * bashful * reserved * timid * demure * coy

    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.

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Antonyms

    * brazen * bold * audacious

    Derived terms

    (terms derived using shy as suffix) * -shy * bird-shy * boy-shy * car-shy * cat-shy * camera-shy * cover-shy * girl-shy * gun-shy * hand-shy * man-shy * mouse-shy * noise-shy * people-shy * water-shy * woman-shy * work-shy

    Verb

  • To avoid due to timidness or caution.
    • I shy away from investment opportunities I don't understand.
  • To jump back in fear.
    • The horse shied''' away from the rider, which startled him so much he '''shied away from the horse.
  • to throw sideways with a jerk; to fling
    • to shy''' a stone; to '''shy a slipper

    Noun

    (shies)
  • An act of throwing.
    • (Thackeray)
  • * Punch
    • 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 .
  • A place for throwing.
    • coconut shy
  • A sudden start aside, as by a horse.
  • In the Eton College wall game, a point scored by lifting the ball against the wall in the calx.

    • Derived terms

    * coconut shy