wary

[ wair-ee ]

adjective

, war·i·er, war·i·est.

1. watchful; being on one's guard against danger.

   Synonyms: prudent, circumspect, guarded, vigilant, alert

2. arising from or characterized by caution:

   to give someone a wary look.

wary

/ ˈwɛərɪ /

adjective

1. watchful, cautious, or alert
2. characterized by caution or watchfulness

Derived Forms

• ˈwarily, adverb
• ˈwariness, noun

Other Words From

• wari·ly adverb
• wari·ness noun
• over·wary adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of wary¹

First recorded in 1545–55; ware ² + -y ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of wary¹

C16: from ware ² + -y ¹

Synonym Study

See careful.

Example Sentences

So agencies should be very wary of only relying on Google’s analytics tools.

From Search Engine Watch

The next month, a new government took office in Panama and adopted a warier stance on China.

From Time

However, ad tech providers and publishers are wary of how open Google actually is to their participation.

From Digiday

He said wary employees are more likely to feel comfortable once they see that colleagues vaccinated weeks earlier are healthy.

From Washington Post

The post With many employees wary, company leaders prepare their return-to-office coronavirus vaccine policies appeared first on Digiday.

From Digiday

But their record shows that travelers to Indonesia need to be very wary of any flight connections they make.

From The Daily Beast

But after a troubled history with alcohol, some tribes are wary.

From The Daily Beast

Moran does so with fearless honesty and bravura, but admits she was wary about oversharing when she wrote How to Be a Woman.

From The Daily Beast

When members of the International Commission arrived to help, the community was wary.

From The Daily Beast

Consumers have been schooled to be wary of companies that offer them valuable products for free along with substantial rebates.

From The Daily Beast

Usually he feeds on some open spot where no one can approach him without being detected by his wary eye.

From Project Gutenberg

Here they were more wary and more fortunate, and Isabel took a curious pleasure in watching the manifest bliss of her companion.

From Project Gutenberg

But, also, each thought the Prall suspicion justified, and each planned to keep a wary eye in that direction.

From Project Gutenberg

But Elizabeth would not hear of his returning to Ireland except by way of England, and he was far too wary for that.

From Project Gutenberg

He doubted, if Sir Robert Peel was in power, that with his wary prudence and caution, he would carry out these resolutions.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• attentive
• circumspect
• considerate
• distrustful
• frugal
• leery
• prudent
• suspicious
• vigilant
• watchful