All 9 Uses
coy
in
Look Homeward, Angel
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- And he, simulating boyish, inarticulate coyness, would say: "Gosh, Miss Edith, I didn't mean to do nothin'."†
Chpt 1
- They talked from couch to couch, or walked pot-belliedly about, sashed coyly with bath towels—malarial Southerners with malarial drawls, paunch-eyed alcoholics, purple-skinned gamblers, and broken down prize-fighters.†
Chpt 1
- McGuire shielded his bloated face coyly with his hand.†
Chpt 2
- "Whew!" she cried out coyly, noticing that Eugene was staring.†
Chpt 2
- Eugene shuddered, and looked up at Gant's white emblem with coy pride.†
Chpt 2
- Coy-kittenish, she talked down at him, slogged against the creaking stair rail.†
Chpt 2
- She thrust her small feet out, coyly turning the toes in.†
Chpt 2
- His heavy legs bulged knottily below a coy fringe of drawer-ruffles.†
Chpt 2
- She yielded her kisses with the coy and frigid modesty of the provincial harlot, turning her mouth away.†
Chpt 3 *
Definitions:
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(1)
(coy) playfully shy or subtly flirtatious; and/or, deliberately evasive to avoid giving information or making a commitmentWriters often use coy when someone acts shy or innocent in a playful way, while being aware of the effect—like giving a coy smile.
The word can also describe being deliberately evasive or withholding information, as in a coy answer that dodges the real question or a coy response that modestly downplays an accomplishment.
In many cases, the person is both playful and withholding at once, as when teasing someone with coy hints about a surprise without revealing what it is. - (2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)