wary

[wair-ee]

adjective

warier, wariest 

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

Other Word Forms

• warily adverb
• wariness noun
• overwary 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

As both the S&P 500 and gold prices continue their climb, however, market watchers are starting to grow wary.

Read more on MarketWatch

Despite, or because of, Fed short-term interest cuts past and future, long bond rates stay high—possibly a sign markets are wary of inflation risks or uncertain economic-growth prospects or both.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

Weiss spent her first day at CBS News speaking in meetings with senior executives and top producers, some of whom are wary of an outsider coming in with a broad mandate to shape editorial coverage.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

But because the sanctions threaten companies that do business with Iran with penalties that include being locked out of the international financial system, Beijing has been wary of exposing its large firms to sanctions risks.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

It said many staff "were excited by the potential of AI but wary of its use" adding that they "generally expressed caution about AI's potential issues, such as accuracy, bias, and safeguarding risks".

Read more on BBC

Related Words

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