variants
also leary
as in wary
feeling or showing a lack of trust in someone or something
a leery attitude She seemed a little leery about the proposal. They were leery of their neighbors.
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of leery
At the same time, polls have shown that Americans have become increasingly leery of artificial intelligence, fearing its effects on jobs and the environment.
—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
4 June 2026
In the end, the legal team was leery of making the decision by itself, and solicited the help of the group of parent activists who had been advising it on strategy.
—
Larissa MacFarquhar,
New Yorker,
28 May 2026
Such a cap would require an act of Congress, and plenty of Republicans are leery of supporting it.
—
Bloomberg,
Oc Register,
7 May 2026
Investors burned by that bust are still leery of pouring money into oil and gas a decade later, says Brandon Davis, founder of AFE Leaks, a consulting firm that tracks capital costs for oil and gas.
—
Stephanie Pappas,
Scientific American,
6 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for leery
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
4 June 2026
In the end, the legal team was leery of making the decision by itself, and solicited the help of the group of parent activists who had been advising it on strategy.
—
Larissa MacFarquhar,
New Yorker,
28 May 2026
Such a cap would require an act of Congress, and plenty of Republicans are leery of supporting it.
—
Bloomberg,
Oc Register,
7 May 2026
Investors burned by that bust are still leery of pouring money into oil and gas a decade later, says Brandon Davis, founder of AFE Leaks, a consulting firm that tracks capital costs for oil and gas.
—
Stephanie Pappas,
Scientific American,
6 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for leery
Recent Examples of Synonyms for leery
Adjective
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Not only is the water less aesthetically pleasing, but Abrams is wary of it.
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Stiff opposition certainly will emerge, and cost-of-living worries have the public wary of being charged more for anything, but the new revenue is for popular spending targets.
Adjective
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Berkeley adopted a more cautious approach.
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The data also points to a more cautious approach to automation than much of the AI industry’s messaging might suggest.
Adjective
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Some physicists are skeptical that such waves could escape the intense gravitational environment near a black hole’s event horizon, or that current instruments can reliably separate a direct wave signal from the surrounding noise.
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The fresh attack, the first reported since the US and Iran agreed last week to work toward a peace deal, prompted an uptick in global oil prices and came as Secretary of State Marco Rubio tried to sell the peace agreement to skeptical Gulf nations.
Cite this Entry
“Leery.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/leery. Accessed 2 Jul. 2026.
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