cagey
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of cagey
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:
Food professionals from haute cuisine down to trend-savvy sandwich shops tend to be cagey about where they get their ramps.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 2026
A second US official was cagey when asked about whether an extension was likely to be agreed on Trump's trip.
From Barron's ● May 10, 2026
Based on an actual meeting between the two, it’s a cagey game of cat-and-mouse, with the publisher taking the measure of a nervous, still-inexperienced journalist, looking for reassurance that his reporting will prove out.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026
For example, officials are still cagey about the infamous destructive Stuxnet hack on Iran's uranium enrichment facilities in 2010.
From BBC ● Mar. 11, 2026
Ernest Burkhart remained cagey about the role of his brother Bryan, evidently not wanting to implicate him.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
With what's at stake, though, it might be a little cagier than that.
From BBC ● May 8, 2025
Judge was cagier about his contract talks with the Yankees.
From New York Times ● Apr. 8, 2022
Lucas, who makes throwaway remarks about being a “cis white male” at an elite institution, is cagier — and more in control than his skittish demeanor lets on.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2022
The answer here was cagier, and I was asked not to quote it directly.
From Slate ● Aug. 12, 2021
Great Britain 3-4 Japan A match that’s cagier than London Zoo edges towards its conclusion.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 24, 2018
Few can parry like Bacon — and he was at his cagiest about his work, speaking abstractly of the importance of “chance” and “accident.”
From New York Times ● Mar. 23, 2021
Yet here she was, about to match wits with some of the cleverest and cagiest card players in the world.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 1, 2020
Though I had expected Johns to be guarded about his past or his personal life, it was a surprise to find him cagiest about his artistic process.
From New York Times ● Feb. 18, 2019
She has a winsome translator, a force of loyal eunuch fighters and an adviser who happens to be the cagiest person in this entire story.
From New York Times ● Jun. 24, 2016
"The cagiest bat flies once too often," he said.
From The Bat by Hopwood, Avery
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.
