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Shy vs Dumb - What's the difference?

shy | dumb |

In lang=en terms the difference between shy and dumb

is that shy is to throw sideways with a jerk; to fling while dumb is to reduce the intellectual demands of.

As adjectives the difference between shy and dumb

is that shy is easily frightened; timid while dumb is (label) unable to speak; lacking power of speech.

As verbs the difference between shy and dumb

is that shy is to avoid due to timidness or caution while dumb is to silence.

As a noun shy

is an act of throwing.

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

    dumb

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) dumb, from (etyl) . In ordinary spoken English, a phrase like "He is dumb" is interpreted as "He is stupid" rather than "He lacks the power of speech". The latter example, however, is the original sense of the word. The senses of stupid'', ''unintellectual'', and ''pointless developed under the influence of the (etyl) word dumm.

    Adjective

    (er)
  • (label) Unable to speak; lacking power of speech.
  • * Hooker
    • to unloose the very tongues even of dumb creatures
  • (label) Silent; unaccompanied by words.
    • dumb show
  • * Shakespeare
    • This spirit, dumb to us, will speak to him.
  • *
  • * J. C. Shairp
    • to pierce into the dumb past
  • extremely stupid.
    • You are so dumb ! You don't even know how to make toast!
  • (label) Pointless, foolish, lacking intellectual content or value.
    • This is dumb ! We're driving in circles! We should have asked for directions an hour ago!
    Brendan had the dumb job of moving boxes from one conveyor belt to another.
  • Lacking brightness or clearness, as a colour.
  • * De Foe
    • Her stern was painted of a dumb white or dun color.
    Synonyms
    * (unable to speak) dumbstruck, mute, speechless, wordless * (stupid) feeble-minded, idiotic, moronic, stupid * banal, brainless, dopey, silly, stupid, ridiculous, vulgar
    Derived terms
    * dumb as a box of rocks * dumben * dumbhood * dummy * dumbness

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) dumbien, from (etyl) dumbian (more commonly in compound .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To silence.
  • * 1911 , Lindsay Swift, William Lloyd Garrison , p. 272,
    • The paralysis of the Northern conscience, the dumbing of the Northern voice, were coming to an end.
  • To make stupid.
  • * 2003 , Angela Calabrese Barton, Teaching Science for Social Justice , p. 124,
    • I think she's dumbing us down, so we won't be smarter than her.
  • To represent as stupid.
  • * 2004 , Stephen Oppenheimer, The Real Eve: Modern Man's Journey Out of Africa , p. 107,
    • Bad-mouthing Neanderthals . . . is symptomatic of a need to exclude and even demonize. . . . I suggest that the unproven dumbing of the Neanderthals is an example of the same cultural preconception.
  • To reduce the intellectual demands of.
  • * 2002 , Deborah Meier, In Schools We Trust: Creating Communities of Learning in an Era of Testing , p. 126,
    • The ensuing storm caused the department to lower the bar—amid protests that this was dumbing the test down—so that only 80 percent of urban kids would fail.
    Derived terms
    * dumbness * dumb blonde * dumb down * dumbocracy * dumb-show * dumb terminal * dummy * play dumb