🇬🇧 Coy meaning: English Vocabulary Flash Card

If someone is coy, they pretend to be shy or innocent, but they’re actually doing it on purpose—often to get attention, to keep a little secret, or to make others curious about what they really think or feel.

When I asked Dad if we could have ice cream for dinner, he gave a coy, “We’ll see,” which every kid knows means “Probably not, but I like watching you hope.”

At picture day, I tried to look cool, but the camera caught my coy half-smile that said, “I know I look ridiculous.”

My friend was coy about their new haircut, hiding under a hoodie until we promised not to scream in surprise.

A coy smile is famous in paintings like the Mona Lisa—she looks so calmly secretive that people have spent over 500 years arguing about what she’s hiding.

The dog gave a coy tail wag when we said “Who chewed my shoe?” and then slowly walked away like it had a meeting.

At the bus stop, Lena gave a coy smile, then a coy glance toward the man with the book. She tucked hair behind her ear in a coy way and dropped a coin near his bag. He looked up, puzzled; she stood coy, waiting. He laughed, picked up the coin, and offered her his seat with a coy grin.

This word is at the C2 level, which means it represents the highest mastery of English. It’s often used in specialized or highly formal contexts and helps you communicate with precision and subtlety, much like a native speaker.

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