"gunshy" meaning in English

See gunshy in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

IPA: /ɡʌn.ʃaɪ/ Forms: more gunshy [comparative], most gunshy [superlative]
Etymology: From gun + shy. Etymology templates: {{compound|en|gun|shy}} gun + shy Head templates: {{en-adj}} gunshy (comparative more gunshy, superlative most gunshy)
  1. Afraid to use a gun.
    Sense id: en-gunshy-en-adj-947vTBeS
  2. Frightened by the sound of gunfire.
    Sense id: en-gunshy-en-adj-336JhUhI
  3. (figurative) Fearing the consequences of repeating an act, especially after being reprimanded. Tags: figuratively
    Sense id: en-gunshy-en-adj-Zik6-q3Q Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 8 9 83
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: gun shy, gun-shy Related terms: once bitten, twice shy

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for gunshy meaning in English (2.1kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gun",
        "3": "shy"
      },
      "expansion": "gun + shy",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From gun + shy.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more gunshy",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most gunshy",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "gunshy (comparative more gunshy, superlative most gunshy)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "once bitten, twice shy"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Afraid to use a gun."
      ],
      "id": "en-gunshy-en-adj-947vTBeS",
      "links": [
        [
          "gun",
          "gun"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2007, Paul Long, Training Pointing Dogs, 2nd edition, page 38",
          "text": "But very few dogs become gunshy if they are introduced to the bang while they are overcome with the delight of chasing game, particularly if the trainer begins with a light noise and works up to louder noises in easy stages",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Frightened by the sound of gunfire."
      ],
      "id": "en-gunshy-en-adj-336JhUhI",
      "links": [
        [
          "gunfire",
          "gunfire"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "8 9 83",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "After his last suggestion was laughed at by his colleagues, he was gunshy about making another suggestion.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2018, Mark Oliver Everett (lyrics and music), “There I Said It”, in The Deconstruction, performed by Eeels",
          "text": "You're gun shy / So am I / I understand with what you've been through",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Fearing the consequences of repeating an act, especially after being reprimanded."
      ],
      "id": "en-gunshy-en-adj-Zik6-q3Q",
      "links": [
        [
          "Fear",
          "fear"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figurative) Fearing the consequences of repeating an act, especially after being reprimanded."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ɡʌn.ʃaɪ/"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "gun shy"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "gun-shy"
    }
  ],
  "word": "gunshy"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English 2-syllable words",
    "English adjectives",
    "English compound terms",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gun",
        "3": "shy"
      },
      "expansion": "gun + shy",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From gun + shy.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more gunshy",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most gunshy",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "gunshy (comparative more gunshy, superlative most gunshy)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "once bitten, twice shy"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Afraid to use a gun."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "gun",
          "gun"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2007, Paul Long, Training Pointing Dogs, 2nd edition, page 38",
          "text": "But very few dogs become gunshy if they are introduced to the bang while they are overcome with the delight of chasing game, particularly if the trainer begins with a light noise and works up to louder noises in easy stages",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Frightened by the sound of gunfire."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "gunfire",
          "gunfire"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "After his last suggestion was laughed at by his colleagues, he was gunshy about making another suggestion.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2018, Mark Oliver Everett (lyrics and music), “There I Said It”, in The Deconstruction, performed by Eeels",
          "text": "You're gun shy / So am I / I understand with what you've been through",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Fearing the consequences of repeating an act, especially after being reprimanded."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Fear",
          "fear"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figurative) Fearing the consequences of repeating an act, especially after being reprimanded."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ɡʌn.ʃaɪ/"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "gun shy"
    },
    {
      "word": "gun-shy"
    }
  ],
  "word": "gunshy"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-30 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (210104c and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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