as in wary
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Recent Examples of gun-shy
Underneath the puns and pumps was a dress-down of the rom-com that ultimately told the story of a woman who fell in love, came out worse, and became gun-shy.
—
Mathew Rodriguez, Them., 30 May 2025
Major studios have grown gun-shy about funding anything remotely risky; even a risk well taken can prompt a knee-jerk, scornful reaction from not only the executives but also the press: The film could, even should, have done better.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 25 Apr. 2025
Nintendo has been famously gun-shy of live-action adaptations — or adaptations in general — after the abysmal 1993 Super Mario Bros. film tanked.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 28 Mar. 2025
But that ending has yet to be printed: in a documentary climate in which corporations are growing increasingly gun-shy, The Stringer does not yet have a distributor.
—Steven Zeitchik, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Jan. 2025
Harris dropped out of the 2020 presidential race early (followed later by her fellow female candidates, senators Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren), and some pundits speculated that Democratic primary voters were gun-shy of nominating another woman after Hillary Clinton’s loss in 2016.
—Kathleen Walsh, Glamour, 21 July 2024
The Price of Entry Apart from elevated risks, there are several other reasons why international firms are likely to remain gun-shy about India.
—Arvind Subramanian, Foreign Affairs, 9 Dec. 2022
Digital transformation made employers more selective and gun-shy about entry-level hiring, but generative AI will take it to a new level.
—Ryan Craig, Forbes, 21 Apr. 2023
Mathew Rodriguez, Them., 30 May 2025
Major studios have grown gun-shy about funding anything remotely risky; even a risk well taken can prompt a knee-jerk, scornful reaction from not only the executives but also the press: The film could, even should, have done better.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 25 Apr. 2025
Nintendo has been famously gun-shy of live-action adaptations — or adaptations in general — after the abysmal 1993 Super Mario Bros. film tanked.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 28 Mar. 2025
But that ending has yet to be printed: in a documentary climate in which corporations are growing increasingly gun-shy, The Stringer does not yet have a distributor.
—Steven Zeitchik, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Jan. 2025
Harris dropped out of the 2020 presidential race early (followed later by her fellow female candidates, senators Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren), and some pundits speculated that Democratic primary voters were gun-shy of nominating another woman after Hillary Clinton’s loss in 2016.
—Kathleen Walsh, Glamour, 21 July 2024
The Price of Entry Apart from elevated risks, there are several other reasons why international firms are likely to remain gun-shy about India.
—Arvind Subramanian, Foreign Affairs, 9 Dec. 2022
Digital transformation made employers more selective and gun-shy about entry-level hiring, but generative AI will take it to a new level.
—Ryan Craig, Forbes, 21 Apr. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gun-shy
Adjective
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Judge, always wary of self-congratulation, downplayed his contributions.—
Brendan Kuty,
New York Times,
25 July 2025
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Those who did speak were wary of unintended consequences, particularly on special education or immigrant students.—
Cayla Bamberger,
New York Daily News,
24 July 2025
Adjective
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Many farmers are also leery of solar, worrying that agrivoltaics could take working farmland out of use, affect their current operations or deteriorate soils.—
Robert Pearlman,
ArsTechnica,
11 July 2025
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At the same time, Lohner was going to have a bunch of free agent suitors if he didn’t get drafted, which could well make the Broncos leery of trying to get him through waivers to the practice squad at the end of August.—
Parker Gabriel,
Denver Post,
8 July 2025
Adjective
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Aston Martin Formula One driver Fernando Alonso has revealed a cautious approach in the wet-weather racing argument after the previous race at Spa-Francorchamps saw the FIA delay the race start by 80 minutes due to rain.—
Saajan Jogia,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Aug. 2025
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Some analysts, including those at Barclays, have also pointed out that there could be potential deceleration in the second half, keeping cautious ratings despite the company’s optimistic outlook.—
Trefis Team,
Forbes.com,
1 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The hamstring injury Mount suffered overextending his leg in the Manchester derby in December kept him out until March, and Amorim was careful to reintroduce him — and praised his diligence in returning to fitness.—
Laurie Whitwell,
New York Times,
25 July 2025
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However, realizing these benefits demands careful tool selection, integration, oversight and governance.—
John Arsneault,
Forbes.com,
25 July 2025
Adjective
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Some students might be tempted to argue against it entirely, assuming that admissions officers will favor this kind of response or be skeptical of those who express too favorable views of the technology.—
Christopher Rim,
Forbes.com,
30 July 2025
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LeCun, who has been openly skeptical that current approaches to AI will lead to human-level AI, let alone superintelligence, has been increasingly sidelined in Meta’s drive to develop AI models and products.—
Jeremy Kahn,
Fortune,
29 July 2025
Adjective
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Ethnic and religious minority groups remain distrustful of Sharaa, and the majority-Druze community in Sweida had been one of the major holdouts in demilitarizing, along with Kurdish militias in Syria's northeast who are in negotiations over how to merge with the national military.—
Emily Feng,
NPR,
31 July 2025
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When people become cold and distrustful of one another, the notion of the common good collapses.—
Nathan Meyers,
The Conversation,
11 July 2025
Adjective
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Rashford took part in a workout with his new team-mates under Flick’s watchful eye.—
Dermot Corrigan,
New York Times,
25 July 2025
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Parents are justifying the exorbitant costs due to multi-faceted development services that focus on evaluation, professional instruction, arm care resources and statistical analysis under the watchful eyes of scouts, college coaches and former major league ball players.—
Wayne G. McDonnell,
Forbes.com,
21 July 2025
Adjective
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Goldman downgraded the Club stock to hold from buy, saying this is now a show-me story.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
30 Apr. 2025
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For various examples and further detailed indications about the nature and use of the show-me versus tell-me prompting strategy, see my coverage at the link here.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
9 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Gun-shy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gun-shy. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.
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