shyness
/ˈʃaɪnəs/noun
shyness is spelled S-H-Y-N-E-S-S: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 32,798th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, shyness means “The quality of being shy; a fear of social interactions” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of shyness is shynesses.
How many letters and syllables are in shyness?
| Letters | 7: S-H-Y-N-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 32,798th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is shyness?
Shyness appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 32,798th 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 shyness?
- /ˈʃaɪnəs/
Shyness has 2 syllables (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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-shyness.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of shyness
- shynesses plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does shyness mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The quality of being shy; a fear of social interactions.
Her shyness kept her from asking him to the prom.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Shyness in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense quality of being shy:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | timidité |
| German | Schüchternheit, Scheu, Scheuheit |
| Portuguese | timidez |
| Spanish | timidez |
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 shyness come from?
From shy + -ness.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).