canny

[ kan-ee ]

/ ˈkæn i /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR canny ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, can·ni·er, can·ni·est.

careful; cautious; prudent: a canny reply.

astute; shrewd; knowing; sagacious: a canny negotiator.

skilled; expert.

frugal; thrifty: a canny housewife.

Scot.

safe to deal with, invest in, or work at (usually used with a negative).
gentle; careful; steady.
snug; cozy; comfortable.
pleasing; attractive.
Archaic. having supernatural or occult powers.

adverb Also can·ni·ly.

in a canny manner.

Scot. carefully; cautiously.

Nearby words

Origin of canny

First recorded in 1630–40; can¹ + -y¹

Related formscan·ni·ness, nouno·ver·can·ny, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for canny

Ever canny if uninspiring, John Boehner admitted as much in his recent remarks.
What Republicans Need Right Now Is a Good Internal Fight|James Poulos|November 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But he was a canny political operator, far less ideological and more coldly pragmatic than proponents liked to admit.
From The Square Deal to The New Deal: The Overlapping Political Identities of TR and FDR|John Avlon|September 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A wavering, but canny Wehrmacht General Dietrich von Choltitz finally surrendered it on August 25.
Who Liberated Paris in August 1944?||August 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
That is admirable, and Preserve is clever, or at least canny.
Blake Lively Gets Her GOOP On|Tim Teeman|July 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST

All of it is so canny we can only wonder why no one had said these things before.
Geoff Dyer at Sea: Unmoored but on Target|Melissa Holbrook Pierson|May 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Said the goodwife, "Aoirig, poor woman, it is not the hour for ancient old sgeuls; be thinking of a canny going."
The Lost Pibroch|Neil Munro
He felt, like the washerwomen, that there was something not canny about this Doo.
The Scottish Fairy Book|Elizabeth W. Grierson
The canny young Scot thought of a coming legacy and obeyed the head of his clan.
A Fascinating Traitor|Richard Henry Savage
It was "no' canny" that this old man, with a cauld in his chest, had gone up full two days before and had not come down again.
Greyfriars Bobby|Eleanor Atkinson
Out of his canny Scotch-English corner of thought, he is sadly lost.
Continental Monthly, Vol. I, No. V, May, 1862|Various

British Dictionary definitions for canny

canny

/ (ˈkænɪ) /

adjective -nier or -niest

shrewd, esp in business; astute or wary; knowing

Scot and Northeast English dialect good or nice: used as a general term of approval

Scot lucky or fortunate

adverb

Scot and Northeast English dialect quite; rathera canny long while

Derived Formscannily, adverbcanniness, noun

Word Origin for canny

C16: from can 1 (in the sense: to know how) + -y 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for canny

canny

adj.

1630s, Scottish and northern English formation from can (v.1) in its sense of "know how to," + -y (2). "Knowing," hence, "careful." A doublet of cunning that flowed into distinct senses. Often used superciliously of Scots by their southern neighbors (and their American cousins).

The Canny Scot is so well known as scarcely to require description. He carries caution, cunning, and selfishness to excess. Deceitful when a purpose is to be accomplished, he is not habitually deceitful. One thing he never loses sight of--his own interest. But of his own interest he is not the most enlightened judge. ["The Natural History of Scotsmen," in "The Argosy," December 1865]

Related: Cannily; canniness.

canny

adjective, can·ni·er, can·ni·est.

adverb Also can·ni·ly.

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of canny

Examples from the Web for canny

canny

adjective -nier or -niest

adverb

Word Origin for canny

canny