What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Sky vs Shy - What's the difference?

sky | shy |

As nouns the difference between sky and shy

is that sky is a cloud while shy is an act of throwing.

As verbs the difference between sky and shy

is that sky is to hit, kick or throw (a ball) extremely high while shy is to avoid due to timidness or caution.

As an adjective shy is

easily frightened; timid.

sky

English

Alternative forms

* skie (obsolete)

Noun

(skies)
  • (lb) A cloud.
  • The atmosphere above a given point, especially as visible from the ground during the day.
  • :
  • The part of the sky which can be seen from a specific place or at a specific time; its condition, climate etc.
  • :
  • :
  • *
  • *:So this was my future home, I thought!Backed by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary off to the southwest, a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.
  • *
  • *:She wakened in sharp panic, bewildered by the grotesquerie of some half-remembered dream in contrast with the harshness of inclement fact, drowsily realising that since she had fallen asleep it had come on to rain smartly out of a shrouded sky .
  • Heaven.
  • :

    • Usage notes

    Usually the word can be used correctly in either the singular or plural form, but the plural is now mainly poetic.

    Synonyms

    * firmament * heaven *

    Derived terms

    * (l) * (l) * (l) * (l) * (l) * (l)

    Related terms

    * skylark * the sky's the limit * reach for the sky

    Verb

  • (sports) to hit, kick or throw (a ball) extremely high.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=January 22 , author=Ian Hughes , title=Arsenal 3 - 0 Wigan , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=Van Persie skied a penalty, conceded by Gary Caldwell who was sent off, and also hit the post before scoring his third with a shot at the near post.}}
  • (colloquial, dated) To hang (a picture on exhibition) near the top of a wall, where it cannot be well seen.
  • * The Century
    • Brother Academicians who skied his pictures.
  • (colloquial) to drink something from a container without one's lips touching the container

    • Statistics

    * 1000 English basic words ----

    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