canny
Americanadjective
adverb
-
in a canny manner.
-
Scot. carefully; cautiously.
adjective
-
shrewd, esp in business; astute or wary; knowing
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dialect good or nice: used as a general term of approval
-
lucky or fortunate
adverb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of canny
Explanation
If you're a canny investor, you know how to spend money to make money — that is, you're prudent, farsighted, and capable of protecting your own interests, particularly in matters of finance or business. In contemporary usage, canny is a synonym for shrewd. Both words mean smart or sharp-witted, but they also suggest that someone is smart in a self-serving and possibly even tricky way. Canny is also related to the word cunning — another adjective meaning "wise," but with negative connotations. Uncanny is not the opposite of canny — it means "weird" or "unsettling."
Vocabulary lists containing canny
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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:
But the debate between the Iraqi leader and the CIA analyst—the former arrogant, canny and pragmatic; the latter cautious, politic but unyielding—makes for an exciting primer on the recent history of the region.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
But the pair are just the latest in the long line of hustlers, fraudsters and canny opportunists who have been working to undermine science in this country for more than a century.
From Salon ● Aug. 13, 2026
Shorn of the suspended Ramsey and Davies, Wales were stifled by their canny opponents, who secured a 2-0 win with second-half goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
"His reaction, for someone who's normally pretty canny when it comes to the media, is extraordinarily counterproductive," said Bale.
From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026
“I would suggest Proverbs, 24th Chapter, 21st verse,” said the old minister, with a canny gleam in his eye which Kit understood as John began to read.
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
How do they take a cannier approach to prevent Max Verstappen swooping in and stealing the championship from under their nose?
From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2025
But it would have been cannier of Barnes to make her a genuinely convincing provocateur.
From New York Times ● Aug. 17, 2022
He needs to be a much cannier person and not show his lining too much.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2020
In this relationship, she’s the cannier and the crueler.
From Slate ● Aug. 8, 2019
She thought of those cannier, less docile hens and laughed.
From Susan Lenox: Her Fall and Rise by David Graham Phillips
Penetrating a well-placed camera can get analysts closer to targets and carries less risk than infiltrating even the canniest secret agent.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
Lord Wolfson is widely considered to be one of the canniest brains in UK business, and while he conceded next year would be tough, there were reasons for optimism.
From BBC ● Nov. 9, 2022
Simon Russell Beale, to my mind the canniest wielder of dramatic poetry in the English language, was honored for his mesmerizing lead performance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2022
Khrushchev soon emerges as one of the canniest of these survivors, though Beria moves faster and initially with far more lethal force.
From New York Times ● Mar. 8, 2018
“You always were the canniest little thing—always, always.”
From A Very Naughty Girl by L. T. Meade
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
