wary
UK /ˈwɛə.ɹi/ · US /ˈwɛɚ.i/ adjective, verb
Forms warier wariest waries warying waried
- adjective Cautious of danger; carefully watching and guarding against deception, trickery, and dangers; suspiciously prudent “He is wary of dogs.”
- adjective Characterized by caution; guarded; careful; on one's guard
- adjective thrifty, provident
- verb (dialectal) To curse, revile.
Synonyms
circumspect scrupulous careful cautious guarded chary leery mistrustful suspicious untrusting
Antonyms
Etymology
From the adjective ware + -y.
From Middle English warien, from Old English wierġan (“to curse, do evil”), from Proto-West Germanic *wargijan, from Proto-Germanic *wargijaną (“to condemn, curse”), from Proto-Germanic *wargaz (“criminal”). Doublet of warry.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Cautious of danger; carefully watching and guarding against deception, artifices, and dangers; timorously or suspiciously prudent; circumspect; scrupulous; careful. "Bear a wary eye." Shak.
- adjective Characterized by caution; guarded; careful.
Etymology [OE. war, AS. wær; akin to Icel. v, Dan. & Sw. var, Goth. wars, G. gewahr aware, OHG. wara notice, attention, Gr. Aware, Garment, Garnish, Garrison, Panorama, Ward, v. t. Ware, a., Warren.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “wary”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details