scheu
German, adjective
scheu is spelled S-C-H-E-U (5 letters) and appears 3.8 times per million words in written German, the 15,068th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Scheu is a German adjective meaning “shy (reserved)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Scheu is a different word: “shyness”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “aus Angst, Unbehagen oder Scham zurückhaltend und soziale Kontakte vermeidend”.
What does scheu mean in English?
adjective
- 1
shy (reserved)
- 2
shy, skittish, startlish (easily frightened)
scheu wie ein Reh
noun
- 1
feminineshyness
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. aus Angst, Unbehagen oder Scham zurückhaltend und soziale Kontakte vermeidend 2. nicht zutraulich, Kontakt zu anderen Tieren oder Menschen meidend
noun: 1. ängstliche, schüchterne Zurückhaltung 2. zurückweichendes Verhalten, Vermeidung des Kontakts mit Menschen
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of scheu
- scheuer masculine nominative singular
- am scheuesten superlative
- am scheusten superlative
- scheue feminine nominative singular
- scheues neuter nominative singular
- scheuen genitive masculine singular
- scheuem dative masculine singular
- der scheue definite includes-article masculine
- die scheue definite feminine includes-article
- das scheue definite includes-article neuter
- die scheuen definite includes-article nominative
- des scheuen definite genitive includes-article
- der scheuen definite feminine genitive
- dem scheuen dative definite includes-article
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to scheu
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is scheu in German?
scheu appears 3.8 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).