Coy Adjective - Definition, Pictures, Pronunciation And Usage Notes

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Definition of coy adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

coy adjective  /kɔɪ/  /kɔɪ/ jump to other results

1. shy or pretending to be shy and innocent, especially about love or sex, sometimes in order to make people more interested in you
   • She gave me a coy smile.
   • He went all coy when I mentioned her name.
   • She gave him a rather coy look.
   Topics Personal qualitiesc2Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
   • be
   • play
   • go
   • …
   adverb
   • all
   • extremely
   • very
   • …
   See full entry

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2. coy (about something) not willing to give information about something, or give answers that tell people too much about you synonym reticent
   • She was a little coy about how much her contract is worth.
   • The company is coy about revealing its profits.
   Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
   • be
   • remain
   adverb
   • extremely
   • fairly
   • very
   • …
   preposition
   • about
   See full entry
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French coi, quei, from Latin quietus ‘repose, quiet’. The original sense was ‘quiet, still’ (especially in behaviour), later ‘modestly retiring’, and hence (of a woman) ‘affecting to be unresponsive to advances’.

See coy in the Oxford Advanced American DictionaryCheck pronunciation: coy

Nearby words

• Cox's orange pippin noun
• coxswain noun
• coy adjective
• coyly adverb
• coyness noun

maintain verb From the Word list OPAL written words Oxford Learner's Dictionaries Word of the Day