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  1. coy love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. adj. Tending to avoid people and social situations; reserved.
  2. adj. Affectedly and usually flirtatiously shy or modest. See Synonyms at shy1.
  3. adj. Annoyingly unwilling to make a commitment.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. Quiet; still.
  2. Manifesting modesty; shrinking from familiarity; bashful; shy; retiring.
  3. Disposed to repel advances; disdainful.
  4. Synonyms Shrinking, distant, bashful, backward, diffident, demure.
  5. To quiet; soothe.
  6. To caress with the hand; stroke caressingly.
  7. To coax; allure; entice; decoy. See decoy, v.
  8. To be coy; behave with coyness or bashfulness; shrink from familiarity: with an indefinite it.
  9. To make difficulty; be slow or reluctant.
  10. n. A stroke or noise made to coy or quiet an animal, as a horse; a soothing sound or utterance.
  11. n. A decoy. See decoy, n.
  12. n. A cage or pen for lobsters.

Wiktionary

  1. n. A trap from which waterfowl may be hunted.
  2. adj. dated Bashful, shy, retiring.
  3. adj. archaic Quiet, reserved, modest.
  4. adj. Reluctant to give details about something sensitive; notably prudish.
  5. adj. Pretending shyness or modesty, especially in an insincere or flirtatious way.
  6. adj. Soft, gentle, hesitating
  7. v. transitive (obsolete) To caress, pet; to coax, entice
  8. v. transitive (obsolete) To calm or soothe

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. adj. obsolete Quiet; still.
  2. adj. Shrinking from approach or familiarity; reserved; bashful; shy; modest; -- usually applied to women, sometimes with an implication of coquetry.
  3. adj. Soft; gentle; hesitating.
  4. v. obsolete To allure; to entice; to decoy.
  5. v. To caress with the hand; to stroke.
  6. v. obsolete To behave with reserve or coyness; to shrink from approach or familiarity.
  7. v. obsolete To make difficulty; to be unwilling.

WordNet 3.0

  1. adj. showing marked and often playful or irritating evasiveness or reluctance to make a definite or committing statement
  2. adj. modestly or warily rejecting approaches or overtures
  3. adj. affectedly modest or shy especially in a playful or provocative way

Etymologies

  1. From Old French coi, earlier quei ("quiet, still"), from Latin quietus ("resting, at rest") (Wiktionary)
  2. Middle English, from Old French quei, coi, quiet, still, from Vulgar Latin *quētus, from Latin quiētus, past participle of quiēscere, to rest; see kweiə- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

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Lists

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Comments

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  • hernesheir A Scottish name for the ball used in the game of shinty. May 10, 2011

  • madmouth The term has been simultaneously derogated and immortalized by Andrew Marvell's "To his Coy Mistress" Apr 10, 2009

  • kewpid I use this to abbreviate the word company. Oct 7, 2007

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‘coy’ has been looked up 4693 times, loved by 18 people, added to 73 lists, commented on 3 times, and has a Scrabble score of 8.