wary
Americanadjective
-
warier,
comparative
-
wariest
superlative
-
watchful; being on one's guard against danger.
- Synonyms:
- prudent, circumspect, guarded, vigilant, alert
-
arising from or characterized by caution.
to give someone a wary look.
adjective
-
watchful, cautious, or alert
-
characterized by caution or watchfulness
Synonym Usage
See careful.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of wary
Explanation
Describe yourself as wary if you don't quite trust someone or something and want to proceed with caution. Be wary of risky things like wild mushrooms and Internet deals! You can trace wary through Old English back to Old High German giwar "aware, attentive." If you keep a wary eye on something, you are attentive for signs that it is becoming dangerous. Likewise, if you give someone a wary glance, your face conveys the suspicion and caution you feel. When you are wary of driving alone at night or making promises, you fear something bad might happen if you do these things.
Vocabulary lists containing wary
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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.
See Examples For:
Aliev, who had worked in finance before doing her MBA, was wary of first impressions at the firm.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
Oil companies have been wary, however, saying they would need security guarantees and sweeping changes to Venezuela’s legal and commercial framework before committing significant capital.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
A rising number of people are wary that AI will take their jobs, even though such displacement largely hasn’t shown up yet in jobs data.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026
Despite lifting the state of emergency, the authorities remain wary of RSF infiltration.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
Ever since she’d had a taste of Old Tallow’s justice, she’d been wary of the fierce woman, and now, stubborn, Omakayas waited.
From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich
The strengthening of Ukrainian air defenses with Western weaponry may partly explain the decrease, with shoot-downs seemingly making Russian pilots warier.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 15, 2024
Eric Siegel, a former Columbia University professor and the author of “The AI Playbook: Mastering the Rare Art of Machine Learning Deployment,” has struck an even warier tone.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 2, 2024
Far warier — though less cautious — on the world stage than in 1941.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 16, 2022
But some local union officials are far warier of packed classrooms.
From New York Times ● Jan. 8, 2022
Since leaving the warren of the snares they had become warier, shrewder, a tenacious band who understood each other and worked together.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
Germans are among the wariest in Europe of nuclear energy.
From New York Times ● Aug. 4, 2022
Naturally, given the nature of COVID-19 spread, choral groups are the wariest about returning to concertizing, but this group is still on board for its Oct.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 14, 2021
“The guy was cool as a cucumber in every situation,” said Todd Kurth, a former squad car partner who noted the way Adams’s broad smile and high-wattage friendliness won over even the wariest.
From New York Times ● Oct. 26, 2020
Franklin, who is the wariest of personalities, deflected and delayed, even as some of her closest friends encouraged her to settle the deal and enjoy the inevitable attention that would come with “Amazing Grace.”
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 4, 2016
At first, Omakayas tried to think she had won, that she had outwitted Old Tallow and made her impatient, as even the wariest animals often failed to do.
From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich
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.
