The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word COCONUT
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
C
O
C
O
N
U
T
More clues leading to the result COCONUT
- Oil producer's beer cask knocked over by clown
- 0001000 teachers might be kind of shy
- Tree enthusiast chasing firms
- Clown organised teachers — fair target?
- Count change on firm palm
- Fair target for shy person
- Clown — crazy person, a fair attraction?
- Senior officers facing fanatic — hairy hard case, soft inside
- Fruit firms needing head
- Company working to split proportion of profit — that’s hairy and tough!
Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "kind of shy" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case kind of shy = coconut.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does COCONUT mean?
COCONUT noun- A fruit of the coconut palm (not a true nut), Cocos nucifera, having a fibrous husk surrounding a large seed.
- A hard-shelled seed of this fruit, having white flesh and a fluid-filled central cavity.
- The edible white flesh of this fruit.
- The coconut palm.
- A Hispanic or dark-skinned person who acts “white” (Caucasian), alluding to the fact that a coconut is brown on the outside and white on the inside.
- A black person who thinks or acts "white" (European).
- A Pacific islander.
- A female breast.
- The human head (often used in cricket broadcasts when a ball hits or nearly hits a batsman on the head).