shyness 是一个名词,意为"害羞;腼腆;羞怯",指在社交场合中感到不自在、紧张或缺乏自信的性格特质或心理状态。
/ˈʃaɪnəs/
She tried to overcome her shyness by joining a drama club at school.
她试图通过参加学校的戏剧社来克服自己的害羞。
His shyness, which had plagued him since childhood, gradually faded as he gained more experience speaking in public.
他从小就困扰他的羞怯,随着公开演讲经验的增加而逐渐消退。
shyness 由形容词 shy 加上名词后缀 -ness 构成。shy 源自古英语 scēoh,意为"胆怯的、容易受惊的",最初常用来形容容易受惊吓的动物。后来词义扩展,用于描述人在社交中表现出的拘谨和不安。后缀 -ness 是英语中极为常见的构词方式,将形容词转化为表示状态或性质的名词。