leery
1 Americanadjective
adjective
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wary; suspicious (usually followed byof ).
I'm leery of his financial advice.
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Archaic. knowing; alert.
adjective
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dialect knowing or sly
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slang (foll by of) suspicious or wary
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slang rowdy or boisterous
Other Word Forms
- leerily adverb
- leeriness noun
Etymology
Origin of leery1
Origin of leery1
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.
Yet years of fighting to get police and prosecutors to take his claims seriously made him leery.
From Los Angeles Times
Many military leaders and lawmakers are leery of threading too many national-security satellite networks through SpaceX, fearing the U.S. would become overly dependent on the company.
MarketWatch asked readers to briefly describe how they feel about the economy; responses included “leery” and “confused.”
From MarketWatch
Some advocates, however, are leery of relying on technology and punitive fines that can continue historical harms, particularly for communities of color.
From Los Angeles Times
Republicans are more than fine with cruelty to humans, but apparently even they are leery of trying to elect a puppy killer.
From Salon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
