gun-shy.

Reluctant or nervous about repeating an experience after a previous unpleasant encounter.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• gun-shy after a setback
• gun-shy investors
• become gun-shy

On the page

After the failed evacuation, residents were gun-shy about official promises.

He had become gun-shy about asking for help after the last rejection.

The burned hand left her gun-shy around the old stove.

Usage notes

Primary category: fear. Figurative sense draws on an animal frightened by gunfire; not a clinical diagnosis or simply shyness. Gradable with more/most; no inflectional endings normally needed.