lairy
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of lairy
First recorded in 1905–10; apparently to be identified with British, especially Cockney slang lairy “cunning, knowing, conceited,” respelling (representing dialectal pronunciation) of leery 1
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.
"Like betting on horses - we don't do that stuff, but we know the kind of lairy groups that do."
From BBC ● Jan. 5, 2026
The Saturday or Sunday after the attack I was at Chester train station travelling on my own, and I wasn't aware it was Chester races and there were a lot of people around getting lairy.
From BBC ● Dec. 1, 2023
"I was young and naive and played up to my lairy character," she told The Sun.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2021
I had only packed two pairs: the missing black ones and some lime-green yoga pants that I had bought online and are the most lairy things I own.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 4, 2017
Jamieson gives lair, vb. to stick in the mire, lair, sb. a bog, lairy, adj. boggy.
From Scandinavian influence on Southern Lowland Scotch by George Tobias Flom
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.
