English → Latin
“shy” in Latin
pavidustrembling, quaking, fearful, terrified, alarmed; timid, timorous, shypaveōto be struck with fear, to be afraid or terrified; tremble or quake with fear; to fear, dread or be terrified bytimidusfearful, afraid, apprehensive, timid; cowardlytimeōto fear, be afraid of, apprehend, be apprehensive of; to be afraid, to fear, to be apprehensivepudeōto cause shame; to be ashamedverēcundusfeeling shame, shamefaced, bashful, shy, modest; worthy of reverence, venerablepāscōto feed, nourish, maintain, support; to pasture, drive to pasture, tend, attend; to feed, supply, cultivate, let grow
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
shy adj.
Timorous, pavidus: pavens: timidus: timens. A shy horse, equus pavidus (by nature); equus terrore pavens; equus consternatus (frightened): to be shy, pavere: in pavore esse.
Bashful, pudens: verecundus.
shy v.
saltum in contraria facere (Ov., Met., 2, 314, of a horse).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for shy?
- The usual Latin words for “shy” are pavidus, paveō, timidus; also timeō, pudeō, verēcundus. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.