“Shy” is a word that describes a feeling of nervousness or timidity in the presence of others. It is a common emotion experienced by people across different cultures and languages. In this article, we’ll explore how the word for “shy” is expressed in various languages around the world, highlighting the diverse ways this universal emotion is communicated.
Here is a list of how to say “shy” in 70 different languages:
- Albanian (🇦🇱) – i/e turpshëm | Pronunciation: ee/e turp-shem
- Arabic (Standard) (🇸🇦) – خجول (Khajool) | Pronunciation: kha-jool
- Armenian (🇦🇲) – ամաչկոտ (amachkot) | Pronunciation: ah-mahch-kot
- Azerbaijani (🇦🇿) – utancaq | Pronunciation: oo-tan-jahk
- Basque (🇪🇸) – lotsati | Pronunciation: loh-tsah-tee
- Belarusian (🇧🇾) – сарамлівы (saramlivy) | Pronunciation: sa-rahm-lee-vee
- Bengali (🇧🇩) – লাজুক (lajuk) | Pronunciation: la-jook
- Bosnian (🇧🇦) – stidljiv | Pronunciation: steed-leev
- Bulgarian (🇧🇬) – срамежлив (sramezhliv) | Pronunciation: srah-mezh-leev
- Catalan (🇪🇸 – Catalonia) – tímid | Pronunciation: tee-meed
- Czech (🇨🇿) – stydlivý | Pronunciation: stid-lee-vee
- Danish (🇩🇰) – genert | Pronunciation: she-neert
- Dutch (🇳🇱) – verlegen | Pronunciation: fur-lay-ghen
- English (🇺🇸 / 🇬🇧) – shy | Pronunciation: shy
- Estonian (🇪🇪) – uje | Pronunciation: oo-yeh
- Farsi (Persian) (🇮🇷) – خجالتی (khajalati) | Pronunciation: kha-ja-la-tee
- Finnish (🇫🇮) – ujo | Pronunciation: oo-yo
- French (🇫🇷) – timide | Pronunciation: tee-meed
- Georgian (🇬🇪) – მორცხვი (morts’khvi) | Pronunciation: morts-khvee
- German (🇩🇪) – schüchtern | Pronunciation: shoo-khtern
- Greek (🇬🇷) – ντροπαλός (ntropalos) | Pronunciation: droh-pa-los
- Hebrew (🇮🇱) – ביישן (bayshan) | Pronunciation: bay-shahn
- Hindi (🇮🇳) – शर्मीला (sharmeela) | Pronunciation: shar-mee-la
- Hungarian (🇭🇺) – félénk | Pronunciation: feh-lenk
- Icelandic (🇮🇸) – feiminn | Pronunciation: fay-min
- Indonesian (🇮🇩) – pemalu | Pronunciation: puh-mah-loo
- Irish Gaelic (🇮🇪) – cúthail | Pronunciation: koo-hil
- Italian (🇮🇹) – timido | Pronunciation: tee-mee-doh
- Japanese (🇯🇵) – 恥ずかしがり屋 (hazukashigariya) | Pronunciation: ha-zoo-ka-shee-ga-ree-ya
- Kazakh (🇰🇿) – ұялшақ (uyalshak) | Pronunciation: oo-yahl-shahk
- Khmer (Cambodian) (🇰🇭) – អៀន (aen) | Pronunciation: ae-n
- Korean (🇰🇷) – 수줍음 (sujubeum) | Pronunciation: soo-joo-boom
- Kurdish (🇮🇶 / 🇸🇾 / 🇹🇷 / 🇮🇷) – jêhesir | Pronunciation: jeh-he-sir
- Kyrgyz (🇰🇬) – уялчаак (uyalchaak) | Pronunciation: oo-yahl-chaahk
- Lao (🇱🇦) – ຂຽວເຂັມ (khiao khem) | Pronunciation: kheow khem
- Latvian (🇱🇻) – kautrīgs | Pronunciation: kow-treegs
- Lithuanian (🇱🇹) – drovus | Pronunciation: droh-voos
- Luxembourgish (🇱🇺) – schei | Pronunciation: shy
- Macedonian (🇲🇰) – срамежлив (sramezhliv) | Pronunciation: srah-mezh-leev
- Malay (🇲🇾 / 🇮🇩) – malu | Pronunciation: mah-loo
- Maltese (🇲🇹) – mistħi | Pronunciation: mees-tee
- Mandarin Chinese (🇨🇳) – 害羞 (hàixiū) | Pronunciation: high-shyo
- Marathi (🇮🇳) – लाजाळू (lajaalu) | Pronunciation: lah-jah-loo
- Mongolian (🇲🇳) – ичимхий (ichimkhi) | Pronunciation: ee-cheem-khee
- Nepali (🇳🇵) – लजालु (lajalu) | Pronunciation: la-jah-loo
- Norwegian (🇳🇴) – sjenert | Pronunciation: she-nehrt
- Pashto (🇦🇫) – شرمنده (sharmanda) | Pronunciation: shar-man-da
- Polish (🇵🇱) – nieśmiały | Pronunciation: n’yeh-shmyah-wih
- Portuguese (🇵🇹 / 🇧🇷) – tímido | Pronunciation: tee-mee-doo
- Romanian (🇷🇴) – timid | Pronunciation: tee-meed
- Russian (🇷🇺) – застенчивый (zastenchivyy) | Pronunciation: zahs-ten-chih-vy
- Serbian (🇷🇸) – стидљив (stidljiv) | Pronunciation: steed-leev
- Sinhala (🇱🇰) – ලැජ්ජා (læjjā) | Pronunciation: lae-jah
- Slovak (🇸🇰) – hanblivý | Pronunciation: hahn-blee-vee
- Slovenian (🇸🇮) – sramežljiv | Pronunciation: srah-mezh-leev
- Somali (🇸🇴) – xishood | Pronunciation: hih-shood
- Spanish (🇪🇸) – tímido | Pronunciation: tee-mee-doh
- Swahili (🇰🇪 / 🇹🇿) – aibu | Pronunciation: ah-ee-boo
- Swedish (🇸🇪) – blyg | Pronunciation: bleeg
- Tajik (🇹🇯) – шармгин (sharmgin) | Pronunciation: shahrm-geen
- Tamil (🇮🇳) – வெட்கம் (vetkam) | Pronunciation: vet-kam
- Telugu (🇮🇳) – సిగ్గు (siggu) | Pronunciation: sig-goo
- Thai (🇹🇭) – ขี้อาย (khee aay) | Pronunciation: kee-ai
- Turkish (🇹🇷) – utangaç | Pronunciation: oo-tan-gach
- Ukrainian (🇺🇦) – сором’язливий (sorom’yazlyvyy) | Pronunciation: soh-rom-yaz-lih-vih
- Urdu (🇵🇰) – شرمیلا (sharmeela) | Pronunciation: shar-mee-la
- Uzbek (🇺🇿) – uyatchan | Pronunciation: oo-yat-chan
- Vietnamese (🇻🇳) – nhút nhát | Pronunciation: nyoot nyat
- Welsh (🇬🇧 – Wales) – swil | Pronunciation: sweel
- Zulu (🇿🇦) – namahloni | Pronunciation: nah-mah-hloh-nee