beware

verb

be·​ware bi-ˈwer 

bē-

intransitive

: to be on one's guard

beware of the dog

transitive

1

: to take care of

beware your wallet

2

: to be wary of

We must … beware the exceedingly tenuous generalization …

—Matthew Lipman

Synonyms of beware

• guard (against)
• watch out (for)
• notice
• look out (for)

Examples of beware in a Sentence

A ghostly voice cried “Beware!”.

He told them to beware.

The restaurant's food is excellent, but beware the chili if you don't like spicy food.

Recent Examples on the Web

Drivers beware, as Chicago's winter parking ban is now in effect on 107 miles of the city. —Tara Molina, CBS News, 1 Dec. 2025

But beware of burnout… not every connection is meant to be kept. —Dossé-Via Trenou, Refinery29, 28 Nov. 2025

As Thanksgiving is upon us, millions of Americans are getting ready to cook mountains of food and trying new recipes, but beware, as food recalls for contaminated products are currently underway. —Fernando Cervantes Jr, USA Today, 24 Nov. 2025

Make it across the 3D pop-up board without exploding, but beware of danger, betrayal, and chaos. —Mia Huelsbeck, PEOPLE, 8 Nov. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English been war, from been "to be" + war "cognizant, ware entry 1"

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Rhymes for beware

• abwehr
• affair
• affaire
• airfare
• altair
• armchair
• aware
• bugbear
• carfare
• childcare
• compare
• cookware

Kids Definition

beware

verb

be·​ware bi-ˈwa(ə)r 

-ˈwe(ə)r

1

: to be on one's guard

beware of the dog

2

: to be suspicious of

beware the quick excuse