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coy

/kɔɪ/adjective, noun

coy is spelled C-O-Y: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 25,367th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, coy means “Bashful, shy, retiring” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in coy?

Letters3: C-O-Y
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing1.3 times per million words; the 25,367th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).

How common is coy?

Coy appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 25,367th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce coy?

  • /kɔɪ/

Coy has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-coy.ogg, En-au-coy.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with coy

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

coy vs koi0 B

Sounds like: koi (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of coy

  • coyer comparative
  • coyest superlative
  • coys present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • coying participle, present
  • coyed participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does coy mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    datedBashful, shy, retiring.

  2. 2

    archaicQuiet, reserved, modest.

  3. 3

    Reluctant to give details about something sensitive; notably prudish.

  4. 4

    Pretending shyness or modesty, especially in an insincere or flirtatious way.

  5. 5

    Soft, gentle, hesitating.

noun

  1. 1

    A trap from which waterfowl may be hunted.

  2. 2

    A company

verb

  1. 1

    obsoleteTo caress, pet; to coax, entice.

  2. 2

    obsoleteTo calm or soothe.

  3. 3

    obsoleteTo allure; to decoy.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Coy in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchtimide (bashful, shy), coi (archaic: quiet, reserved, modest)
Germankeusch, verlegen (bashful, shy), verschämt, schüchtern, zurückhaltend (archaic: quiet, reserved, modest), diskret (reluctant to give details about something…)
Spanishtímido (bashful, shy), recatado (archaic: quiet, reserved, modest), discreto (reluctant to give details about something…), tímido pero coqueto, tímidamente coqueto, fingidamente tímido (pretending shyness or modesty)
Portuguesereservado (reluctant to give details about something…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does coy come from?

From Middle English coy, from Old French coi, earlier quei (“quiet, still”), from Latin qu(i)ētus (“resting, at rest”). Doublet of quit, quiet, quite, and quietus.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after coy