Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Coy

Definition: Coy

Coy

Adjective

1. Affectedly modest or shy especially in a playful or provocative way.

2. Showing marked and often playful or irritating evasiveness or reluctance to make a definite or committing statement; "a politician coy about his intentions".

3. Modestly or warily rejecting approaches or overtures; "like a wild young colt, very inquisitive but very coy and not to be easily cajoled".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "coy" was first used: 13th century. (references)


Specialty Definition: Coy, Arkansas

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Coy is a town located in Lonoke County, Arkansas. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 116.

Geography


Coy is located at 34°32'31" North, 91°52'11" West (34.541882, -91.869736)1. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.7 km² (0.7 mi²). 1.7 km² (0.7 mi²) of it is land and none of it is covered by water.

Demographics


As of the census2 of 2000, there are 116 people, 46 households, and 32 families residing in the town. The population density is 66.8/km² (172.1/mi²). There are 49 housing units at an average density of 28.2/km² (72.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the town is 86.21% White, 13.79% Black or African American, 0.00% Native American, 0.00% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 0.00% from other races, and 0.00% from two or more races. 2.59% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 46 households out of which 32.6% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.9% are married couples living together, 8.7% have a female householder with no husband present, and 28.3% are non-families. 23.9% of all households are made up of individuals and 10.9% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.52 and the average family size is 2.94. In the town the population is spread out with 19.0% under the age of 18, 12.1% from 18 to 24, 23.3% from 25 to 44, 28.4% from 45 to 64, and 17.2% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 42 years. For every 100 females there are 90.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 91.8 males. The median income for a household in the town is $26,406, and the median income for a family is $36,875. Males have a median income of $25,000 versus $25,625 for females. The per capita income for the town is $12,819. 6.0% of the population and 3.7% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 0.0% are under the age of 18 and 29.4% are 65 or older.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Coy, Arkansas."

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Synonyms: Coy

Synonyms: demure (adj), overmodest (adj). (additional references)

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Synonyms within Context: Coy

ContextSynonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).

Fear

Afraid, fearful; timid, timorous; nervous, diffident, coy, faint-hearted, tremulous, shaky, afraid of one's shadow, apprehensive, restless, fidgety; more frightened than hurt.

Modesty

Adjective: modest, diffident; humble; timid, timorous, bashful; shy, nervous, skittish, coy, sheepish, shamefaced, blushing, overmodest.

Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

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Crosswords: Coy

English words defined with "coy": Coyed, Coying, Coyish, coylysimperer. (references)
Non-English Usage: "Coy" is also a word in the following language with the English translation in parentheses.

Spanish (hammock).

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Modern Usage: Coy

DomainUsage

Lyrics

You don't need to be coy, Roy (50 Ways To Leave Your Lover; performing artist: PAUL SIMON)

Movie/TV Titles

Coy Decoy (1963)

A Coy Decoy (1941)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Commercial Usage: Coy

DomainTitle

Books

  • Annual Review of Jazz Studies 2: Features Thelonious Monk, Mc Coy Tyner, Count Basie, John Coltrane (reference)

  • Coy Bay (reference)

  • Rethinking Art History: Meditations on a Coy Science (reference)

  • The Crime of Coy Bell (reference)

  • 'To His Coy Mistress' and Other Poems (Dover Thrift Editions) (reference)

    (more book examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Image Slideshow: Coy

Illustrations:
Coy

More pictures...

Computer Images:
Coy

More pictures...

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Photo Album: Coy

ThumbnailDescription & CreditThumbnailDescription & Credit

Rice harvesting on Ciceros farm in Coy,Arkansas. Credit: USDA.

Sunset view of rice harvesting on Ciceros farm in Coy,Arkansas. Credit: USDA.

Coy. Credit: Library of Congress.

Sparrow talking to coy female sparrow. Credit: Library of Congress.

How coy can those fancy shirts get?. Credit: Library of Congress.

Schools. Hotchkiss School, Coy Hall, sharp view. Credit: Library of Congress.

"Bucking Bronco." Ned Coy, a famous Dakota cowboy, starts out for the cattle round-up with his pet "Boy Dick.". Credit: Library of Congress.

  

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

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Usage Frequency: Coy

"Coy" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Coy" is used about 205 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)
Parts of SpeechPercentUsage per
100 Million Words
Rank in English
Adjective (general or positive)100%20521,272

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Name Usage Frequency: Coy

The following table summarizes the usage of "coy" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified.
NameUsage/GenderUsage per 100
million Persons
Rank in USA
CoyFirst name Male10,000693
CoyLast name5,0002,526
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Cities: Coy


1. Coy, AL
Zip Code(s): 36435
Country: USA


2. Coy, AR (town, FIPS 15790)
Location: 34.54179 N, 91.86960 W
Population (1990): 142 (64 housing units)
Area: 1.7 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Country: USA

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Expressions: Coy

Expressions using "coy": be coy coy one's eyes out coy one's heart out Mc Coy. Additional references.

Hyphenated Usage

Beginning with "coy": coy-virgin, coy-yll.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: Coy

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.
 
ExpressionFrequency
per Day
ExpressionFrequency
per Day

carlos coy

76

carlos coy picture

5

coy fish

68

carlos coy death

5

to his coy mistress

65

coy fish japanese

5

coy

62

mc coy cookie jar

4

bob coy

37

coy mc real

4

coy mc paul

25

coy fish picture

4

coy fish tattoo

24

carlos coy spm

4

andrew marvell to his coy mistress

19

carlos coy dead

4

coy dog

18

coy hatfield mc

4

mc coy

15

coy fish pond

4

coy pond

14

coy wylie

3

mc coy pottery

13

coy japanese

3

barn coy man sexest

13

fort mc coy

3

bob coy pastor

13

coy z

3

coy wire

12

coy dog picture

3

coy mistress

8

carlos coy mexican park south

2

coy tattoo

7

coy wolford

2

marvell to his coy mistress

7

bailey book coy

2

coy al

6

coy his mistress poem

2

coy gibbs

5

coy his mistress summary

2

to his coy mistress by andrew marvell

5

ft mc coy

2
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Modern Translation: Coy

Language Translations for "coy"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.

Albanian

  

i turpshëm (bashful, censurable, disgraceful, dishonorable, dishonourable, foul, humiliating, ignominious, ill at ease, indecent, infamous, inglorious, lewd, obscene, opprobrious, reserved, scandalous, self conscious, shamefaced, shameful, sheepish, shy, timid, unhallowed, vile, villainous), i druajtur (backward, bashful, chary, diffluent, faint-hearted, mousey, mousy, self-effacing, shy, timid). (various references)

   

Arabic 

  

‏محتشم (bashful, chaste, decent, decorous, demure, honest, modest, reserved, shy), ‏متظاهر بالخجل, ‏تصرف بحياء, ‏خفرة, ‏خجول (abashed, ashamed, backward, bashful, chary, diffident, embarrassed, mean, modest, mousey, retiring, self conscious, shamefaced, sheepish, sheep's, shrinking, shy, timid). (various references)

   

Bulgarian 

  

сдържан (aloof, buttoned up, chary, composed, continent, distant, modest, offish, remote, reserved, restrained, reticent, retiring, stand offish, taciturn, unaffable, uncommunicative, undemonstrative, undramatic, unemotional, unsociable, unsocial), престорено свенлив. (various references)

   

Chinese 

  

腼腆, 怕羞 (bashful, shy). (various references)

   

Czech

  

upejpavý, stydlivý (bashful, cockshy, demure), ostýchavý (backward, bashful, demure, diffident, prim, self conscious, shamefaced, shy). (various references)

   

Farsi 

  

نازکن , کمرو (Cagey, Chary, Chicken, Meticulous, Sheepish, Shy, Timid, Unassertive), خجالتی (Shamefaced, Shy, Unco). (various references)

   

Finnish

  

ujo (self-conscious, shy, timid), kaino (bashful, shy), häveliäs (bashful, diffident, modest). (various references)

   

French

  

timide (self conscious), faire la quitte. (various references)

   

German

  

schüchtern (bashful, bashfully, diffident, diffidently, mousey, mousy, sheepish, shy, shyly, timid). (various references)

   

Greek 

  

σεμνότυφος, σεμνός (demure, modest, unassuming), ντροπαλόσ (bashful, blushing, shy), ντροπαλός (bashful, shy, timid). (various references)

   

Hebrew 

  

בישן (ashamed, bashful, shy, timid). (various references)

   

Hungarian

  

szemérmes (bashful, chaste, prim, shamefaced, shy), félénk (bashful, be shy, be timid, chicken hearted, chicken-hearted, cringing, diffident, faint, faint-hearted, farouche, fearful, fearsome, nervous, poor spirited, self-conscious, shamefaced, sheepfaced, sheepish, shy, timid, timorous, tremulous). (various references)

   

Italian

  

timido (abashed, bashful, diffident, faint, milksop, self-conscious, shamefaced, sheepish, shy, timid, timide), schivo (averse, demure, reserved, retiring, shamefaced, shy), riservato (booked, classified, close, confidential, discreet, distant, engaged, offish, private, reserved, retiring, secret, secretive, standoffish, undemonstrative, undercover), modesto (chaste, demure, diffident, homely, humble, inconspicuous, lowly, moderate, modest, plain, quiet, self-effacing, temperate, unassuming, unpretentious). (various references)

   

Japanese Kanji 

  

嬌羞 (charming and coy). (various references)

   

Japanese Katakana 

  

きょうしゅう (assault, charming and coy, homesickness, instruction, nostalgia, training, violent attack). (various references)

   

Korean 

  

수줍어한 (sheepish, shy). (various references)

   

Manx

  

urree hene (coy of girl, reserved), nearildagh (ashamed, bashful, confused, coy of girl, demure, retiring, shy), er hene (coy of boy, reserved), beg-chaayntagh (coy of speech). (various references)

   

Norwegian

  

sjenert (abashed, afraid, self-conscious, shy, timid). (various references)

   

Pig Latin

  

oycay.(various references)

   

Portuguese

  

recatado (blushful, chaste, modest, plain), modesto (blushful, demure, homely, humble, lowly, modest, plain, self-effacing, shamefaced, unassertive, unassuming, unostentatious, unpretending, unpretentious). (various references)

   

Romanian

  

timid (bashful, diffident, hesitating, maiden, maidenly, milky, mousy, pigeon-hearted, retiring, self conscious, sheepish, shy, sissy, timid, timorous), sfios (backward, bashful, demure, faint-hearted, maiden, maidenlike, maidenly, meek, milky, mousy, retiring, self conscious, sheepish, shy, timid, timorous), reţinut (continent, dry, moderate, reserved, restrained, restrictive), feciorelnic (bashful, bashfully, immaculate, maidenlike, virginal, virginally). (various references)

   

Russian 

  

застенчивый (bashful, blushful, blushing, diffident, humble, self conscious, self-conscious, shamefaced, sheep-faced, sheepish, shrinking, shy, trembly, unassertive). (various references)

   

Serbo-Croatian

  

stidljiv (bashful, blushful, demure, shamefaced, shy, timid, trembly), povučen (aloof, demure, recluse, remote, reticent, retiring, undemonstrative, unobtrusive, withdrawn), izveštačen (affected, artificial, finical, histrionic, mincing). (various references)

   

Spanish

  

tímido (afraid, bashful, blushing, capon, diffident, faint-hearted, fearful, mousey, mousy, nervous, shamefaced, sheepish, shy, timid, timorous, tongue tied). (various references)

   

Swedish

  

pryd (demure, prude, prudish), blyg (abashed, bashful, demure, diffident, mousey, mousy, self-conscious, shamefaced, shy, timid). (various references)

   

Turkish

  

utangaç (bashful, diffident, embarrassed, gawky, mean, pudent, retiring, shamefaced, shame-faced, shy, timid, timorous), nazlı (delicate, rose water, spoilt, wayward), çekingen (backward, bashful, demure, diffident, distrustful of oneself, eunuch, faint, fainthearted, farouche, mousy, reserved, retiring, shrinking, shy, standoffish, timid, timorous, uncommunicative, unsociable, unsocial, withdrawn). (various references)

   

Ukrainian

  

стриманий (abstemious, abstentious, abstinent, ascetic, chary, chaste, checked, close, collected, composed, continent, demure, discreet, dry, guarded, low key, measured, offish, restrained, reticent, self controlled, self-composed, spartan, stand off, temperate, undemonstrative, well balanced), скромний (bashful, blushing, chaste, decent, demure, discreet, humble, lowly, maidenlike, maidenly, modest, nice, quiet, retiring, sedate, simple, spare, unobtrusive), соромливий (bashful, blushful, blushing, chary, humble, ovine, pudent, self conscious, self-effacing, shamefaced, shy, timid, trembly, willyard), відлюдний (ascetic, close, lonely, morose, obscure, offish, recluse, remote, retired, shut in, unsociable, unsocial), неприступний (arduous, impregnable, unassailable). (various references)

   

Vietnamese 

  

xấu hổ (ashamed, discreditable, hangdog), rụt rè (bashful, sheepish, timid), l m dáng cách biệt, bẽn lẽn (bashful, demure, shamefaced, sheepish, shily, shy, shyly, timid), ít nói (close-mouthed, silent, taciturn, tight-lipped). (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

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Ancestral Language Translations: Coy

LanguagePeriodTranslations
Latin500 BCE-Modern

quietus. (various references)

Avestan200-600

rafedhrâi, xshnaoma. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Derivations & Misspellings: Coy

Derivations

Words beginning with "coy": coydog, coydogs, coyed, coyer, coyest, coying, coyish, coyly, coyness, coynesses, coyote, coyotes, coyotillo, coyotillos, coypou, coypous, coypu, coypus, coys. (additional references)

Words ending with "coy": decoy, overcoy, uncoy. (additional references)

Words containing "coy": cocoyam, cocoyams, decoyed, decoyer, decoyers, decoying, decoys. (additional references)


Misspellings

"Coy" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: acoy, cacy, cauy, caxy, caya, cayd, Ccny, cegy, cei, cey, ceye, choy, chy, cii, cjoy, cly, Cmyb, cmyc, coby, cogy, coh, coi, coie, coii, coiv, coiy, coj, comy, cooi, Cosyn, coty, cou, cov, covy, cowy, coxy, coye, coyi, coys, croxy, croy, csy, Cty, cuay, cuey, culy, cuny, cuy, Cuyo, cyd, cyf, Cyg, Cyh, cyy, Czyzk, ecoy, eoy, Ioy, kij, kiq, Komy, koy, Kroy, oci, ocky, oy, scoy, voy, yoy, zoy. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

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Rhyming with "Coy"

# of Phoneme MatchesPronunciationWord(s) rhyming with "coy" (pronounced koy")
2k oy"decoy.

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

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Anagrams: Coy

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Words within the letters "c-o-y"

-1 letter: oy, yo.

 Words containing the letters "c-o-y"
 

+1 letter: cloy, coly, cony, copy, cory, cosy, cowy, coys, cozy, yock.

 

+2 letters: choky, cloys, coaly, cobby, cocky, colly, comfy, commy, coney, conky, cooey, cooky, cooly, corby, corky, corny, cosey, covey, cowry, coyed, coyer, coyly, coypu, cozey, crony, cyano, cyclo, cymol, cyton, decoy, ochry, octyl, pocky, rocky, uncoy, yocks, yogic, yonic.

 

+3 letters: blocky, botchy, bouncy, calory, canopy, canyon, carboy, chokey, choosy, choppy, cloddy, cloggy, clotty, cloudy, cloyed, coccyx, codify, cogway, coldly, colony, comedy, comely, comity, comply, conchy, coneys, convey, convoy, cooeys, cookey, coolly, corody, corymb, coryza, coseys, cosily, costly, cotype, county, coveys, cowboy, coydog, coyest, coying, coyish, coyote, coypou, coypus, cozeys, cozily, crayon, croaky, croupy, crowdy, crypto, cyborg, cyclos, cymoid, cymols, cymose, cymous, cytons, decoys, dioecy, echoey, flocky, glycol, hockey, idiocy, incony, jockey, jouncy, myopic, myotic, occupy, ochery, octyls, oocyst, oocyte, outcry, poachy, policy, pouchy, psycho, recopy, stocky, syncom, torchy, touchy, tycoon, wicopy, yapock, yocked, yoicks, zydeco.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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INDEX

1. Definition
2. Synonyms
3. Crosswords
4. Usage: Modern
5. Usage: Commercial
6. Images: Slideshow
7. Images: Photo Album
8. Usage Frequency
9. Names: Frequency
10. Cities
11. Expressions
12. Expressions: Internet
13. Translations: Modern
14. Translations: Ancient
15. Derivations
16. Rhymes
17. Anagrams
18. Bibliography


  

Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.