Shy vs Delicate - What's the difference?
shy | delicate |
Easily frightened; timid.
* Jonathan Swift
Reserved; disinclined to familiar approach.
* Arbuthnot
Cautious; wary; suspicious.
* Boyle
* Sir H. Wotton
Short, insufficient or less than.
Embarrassed.
To avoid due to timidness or caution.
To jump back in fear.
to throw sideways with a jerk; to fling
An act of throwing.
* Punch
* 2008 , (James Kelman), Kieron Smith, Boy , Penguin 2009, p. 55:
A place for throwing.
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.
Easily damaged or requiring careful handling.
* F. W. Robertson
* {{quote-news
, year=2012
, date=April 23
, author=Angelique Chrisafis
, title=François Hollande on top but far right scores record result in French election
, work=the Guardian
Characterized by a fine structure or thin lines.
Intended for use with fragile items.
Refined; gentle; scrupulous not to trespass or offend; considerate; said of manners, conduct, or feelings.
Of weak health; easily sick; unable to endure hardship.
* Shakespeare
(informal) Unwell, especially because of having drunk too much alcohol.
(obsolete) Addicted to pleasure; luxurious; voluptuous; alluring.
* 1360–1387 , (William Langland), (Piers Plowman) (C-text),
* circa'' 1660 , (John Evelyn) (author), , volume I of II (1901), entry for the 19th of August in 1641,
Pleasing to the senses; refined; adapted to please an elegant or cultivated taste.
Slight and shapely; lovely; graceful.
* circa'' 1603 , (William Shakespeare), ''(Othello) , act II,
Light, or softly tinted; said of a colour.
Of exacting tastes and habits; dainty; fastidious.
Highly discriminating or perceptive; refinedly critical; sensitive; exquisite.
Affected by slight causes; showing slight changes.
A delicate item of clothing, especially underwear or lingerie.
(obsolete) A choice dainty; a delicacy.
(obsolete) A delicate, luxurious, or effeminate person.
As adjectives the difference between shy and delicate
is that shy is easily frightened; timid while delicate is easily damaged or requiring careful handling.As nouns the difference between shy and delicate
is that shy is an act of throwing while delicate is a delicate item of clothing, especially underwear or lingerie.As a verb shy
is to avoid due to timidness or caution.shy
English
Adjective
(en-adj)- The horses of the army were no longer shy , but would come up to my very feet without starting.
- He is very shy with strangers.
- What makes you so shy , my good friend? There's nobody loves you better than I.
- I am very shy of using corrosive liquors in the preparation of medicines.
- Princes are, by wisdom of state, somewhat shy of their successors.
- 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.
See also
* bashful * reserved * timid * demure * coyUsage 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 alsoAntonyms
* brazen * bold * audaciousDerived 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-shyVerb
- I shy away from investment opportunities I don't understand.
- The horse shied''' away from the rider, which startled him so much he '''shied away from the horse.
- to shy''' a stone; to '''shy a slipper
Noun
(shies)- (Thackeray)
- If Lord Brougham gets a stone in his hand, he must, it seems, have a shy at somebody.
- The game had started. A man was chasing the ball, it went out for a shy .
- coconut shy
Derived terms
* coconut shydelicate
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- Those clothes are made from delicate lace.
- The negotiations were very delicate .
- There are some things too delicate and too sacred to be handled rudely without injury to truth.
citation, page= , passage=The final vote between Hollande and Sarkozy now depends on a delicate balance of how France's total of rightwing and leftwing voters line up.}}
- Her face was delicate .
- The spider wove a delicate web.
- There was a delicate pattern of frost on the window.
- Set the washing machine to the delicate cycle.
- delicate''' behaviour; '''delicate''' attentions; '''delicate thoughtfulness
- a delicate''' child; '''delicate health
- a delicate and tender prince
- Please don't speak so loudly: I'm feeling a bit delicate this morning.
passus IX, line 285:
- Þenk þat diues for hus delicat lyf to þe deuel wente.
page 29:
- Haerlem is a very delicate town and hath one of the fairest churches of the Gothic design I had ever seen.
- a delicate''' dish; '''delicate flavour
scene iii, lines 18 and 20–21:
- : She’s a most exquisite lady.…Indeed, she’s a most fresh and delicate creature.
- a delicate shade of blue
- a delicate''' taste; a '''delicate ear for music
- a delicate thermometer
Synonyms
* (easily damaged) fragileNoun
(en noun)- Don't put that in with your jeans: it's a delicate !
- With abstinence all delicates he sees. — Dryden.
- All the vessels, then, which our delicates have, — those I mean that would seem to be more fine in their houses than their neighbours, — are only of the Corinth metal. — Holland.