Dictionary entry

Coyness

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Coy″ness, n. The quality of being coy; feigned or bashful unwillingness to become familiar; reserve.

When the kind nymph would coyness feign,

And hides but to be found again.

Dryden.

Syn. — Reserve; shrinking; shyness; backwardness; modesty; bashfulness.