farouche

1 9.9

Being shy and not friendly with a wild, rough look

adjective
/fəˈruːʃ/

Literature

: tímido

He always seemed farouche at parties, sitting alone in the corner.

Examples

With regard to the objection that this dehumanizes Jesus, Fred Crowe made the wry comment some years ago that the Hebrews text, like us in all things but sin, tends to be put to use in a farouche and undiscriminating way.

Academic text (1990)
The dog was farouche and wouldn't approach anyone unfamiliar.
Her farouche nature made it difficult for her to make friends.

Synonyms

shy

vsfarouche

414 1.0

Nervous and likely to avoid people or new situations

is more often unsociable or wild in manner rather than merely nervous

aloof

vsfarouche

33 6.3

Not friendly and distant, not joining in with other people

is more often unsociable or wild in appearance rather than simply detached

standoffish

vsfarouche

7 7.1

Not friendly and keeping a distance from others

is more often unsociable or wild rather than just unwilling to engage

unapproachable

vsfarouche

5 6.6

Not friendly and hard to talk to so people avoid them

is more unsociable or wild than only seeming hard to talk to

offish

vsfarouche

2 8.2

Not friendly and avoids talking to other people

tends to seem unsociable or wild rather than only socially distant

Antonyms

friendly

763 1.0

Kind and helpful toward other people

outgoing

40 3.0

Friendly and confident when talking to other people

How Sociable

sociable

20 1.6

shy

414 1.0

reserved

29 3.7

aloof

33 6.3

farouche

Literature

1 9.9

unsociable

2 5.3

reclusive

23 7.4

Surface Forms

farouche positive

Etymology

Farouche comes from Old French and from the Latin ferus, which means 'wild'. It is like the English words feral and ferocious, so calling someone farouche says they are shy, not friendly, or a little wild.