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camera-shy

American

[kam-er-uh-shahy, kam-ruh-] / ˈkæm ər əˌʃaɪ, ˈkæm rə- /

adjective

unwilling or afraid to be photographed or filmed.

camera-shy British

adjective

having an aversion to being photographed or filmed

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of camera-shy

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Since he is himself very camera-shy, he decided to use the toy as his stand-in for holiday pictures.

From BBC • Jul. 18, 2023

But Alice is camera-shy and determined to let her dad promote the nursery while she works in the background.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 1, 2023

The notoriously camera-shy Frenchman glares into her lens.

From The Guardian • Mar. 31, 2019

As part of the job, I—a camera-shy low-maintenance nerd who never wore makeup or even pants that weren’t jeans—was now doing a photo shoot.

From Slate • Nov. 16, 2018

Charity telephoned to ask Jim Dyckman to act, but he proved to be camera-shy and intractable.

From We Can't Have Everything by Hughes, Rupert

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023