canny

¹can·ny

adjective \ˈka-nē\

can·ni·ercan·ni·est

Definition of CANNY

1

: clever, shrewd <a canny lawyer>; also : prudent <canny investments>

2

chiefly Scottish

a : careful, steady; also : restrained

b : quiet, snug <then canny, in some cozy place, they close the day — Robert Burns>

— can·ni·ly \ˈka-n^əl-ē\ adverb

— can·ni·ness \ˈka-nē-nəs\ noun

Examples of CANNY

1. <a canny card player, good at psyching out his opponents>
2. <warm and canny under the woolen bedcovers, we didn't mind the chilly Scottish nights>

Origin of CANNY

¹can

First Known Use: 1596

Related to CANNY

Synonyms

astute, shrewd, clear-eyed, clear-sighted, hard-boiled, hardheaded, heady, knowing, savvy, sharp, sharp-witted, smart

Antonyms

unknowing

Related Words

artful, cagey (also cagy), crafty, cunning, devious, dodgy [chiefly British], foxy, guileful, pawky [chiefly British], slick, sly, subtle, tricky, wily; discerning, insightful, perceptive, percipient, perspicacious, sagacious, sage, sapient, wise; experienced, veteran; discriminating, discriminative; agile, alert, brainy, bright, brilliant, clever, intelligent, keen, nimble, quick, quick-witted, sharp-eyed, sharp-sighted; apt, ingenious, resourceful; calculating, scheming

Near Antonyms

artless, guileless, ingenuous, innocent, naive (or naïve); exploitable, gullible (also gullable); unperceptive, unwise; dense, dull, obtuse; airheaded, birdbrained, brain-dead, brainless, dim-witted, dopey (also dopy), dumb, empty-headed, feebleminded, gormless [chiefly British], half-witted, knuckleheaded, lamebrain (or lamebrained), lunkheaded, simple, slow, slow-witted, softheaded, stupid, thickheaded, thick-witted, unintelligent, weak-minded; foolish, idiotic (also idiotical), imbecile (or imbecilic), moronic, silly, thoughtless, witless; ignorant, uninformed

Rhymes with CANNY

cranny, fanny, granny, nanny

²canny

adverb

Definition of CANNY

Scottish

: in a canny manner : carefully

First Known Use of CANNY

circa 1796