MEANING
Showing or affecting modest reluctance to speak or reveal something.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- coy smile
- coy about plans
On the page
She was coy about the visitor’s identity.
His coy smile invited further questions.
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- coy
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Usage notes
Primary category: literary. Forms: Comparative more coy; superlative most coy where gradation is meaningful. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.
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