cagey

adjective

ca·​gey ˈkā-jē How to pronounce cagey (audio)
variants or less commonly cagy
cagier; cagiest
1
: hesitant about committing oneself
officials are cagey about giving out details
2
a
: wary of being trapped or deceived : shrewd
a cagey consumer
b
: marked by cleverness
a cagey reply
cagily adverb
caginess noun
or less commonly cageyness

Examples of cagey in a Sentence

a cagey old politician who is exceptionally skilled at getting federal money for his district when it came time to sign the contract, he suddenly got cagey about taking on the job
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
With one year left on his deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, James has been cagey — arguably coy — over his future plans. Tony Maglio, HollywoodReporter, 7 Oct. 2025 In Other News • Bradley and Chip finally track down Claire, who is cagey, but does hand over a document that clearly points to former head of news Bethanne Hines taking a multimillion-dollar payout to kill the Wolf River story. Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 1 Oct. 2025 For a long stretch of its opening act, All the President’s Men—the canonical paranoid thriller from 1976—isn’t just about the brewing Watergate scandal, or about the battle between a cagey political machine and an enterprising newspaper. K. Austin Collins, The Atlantic, 16 Sep. 2025 And even in recent interviews given to promote the residency’s resumption, other band members were cagey about exactly what went down, before Neil himself let the cat out of the bag. Chris Willman, Variety, 14 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for cagey

Word History

Etymology

origin unknown

First Known Use

1876, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of cagey was in 1876

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Cagey.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cagey. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.

Kids Definition

cagey

adjective
ca·​gey
variants also cagy
cagier; cagiest
: very careful of not being trapped or deceived
a cagey buyer
cagily adverb
caginess
-jē-nəs
noun

More from Merriam-Webster on cagey

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!