canny

1 of 2

adjective

can·​ny ˈka-nē 

cannier; canniest

1

: clever, shrewd

a canny lawyer

also : prudent

canny investments

2

chiefly Scotland

a

: careful, steady

also : restrained

b

: quiet, snug

then canny, in some cozy place, they close the day

—Robert Burns

cannily

ˈka-nə-lē 

adverb

canniness

ˈka-nē-nəs 

noun

canny

2 of 2

adverb

Scotland

: in a canny manner : carefully

Synonyms

Adjective

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

Examples of canny in a Sentence

Adjective

a canny card player, good at psyching out his opponents

warm and canny under the woolen bedcovers, we didn't mind the chilly Scottish nights

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

When her father dies, Alexandra Bergson is entrusted with the family farm and soon becomes prosperous, thanks to some canny risk-taking and her near-mystical identification with the land. —Chelsea Leu, The Atlantic, 3 Apr. 2024

The rare artist who can pull off such a canny move, Beyoncé now represents something bigger than music. —Jason Parham, WIRED, 29 Mar. 2024

There’s no truer visual metaphor for this than Sen’s canny choice of town to play his fictional Limbo: real-life Aussie settlement Coober Pedy, where most homes and businesses are subterranean, built right into the region’s sandstone, as if cave times had returned. —Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2024

His upbeat demeanor and canny knowledge of the inside game of growing a company has benefited hundreds of startups. —Steven Levy, WIRED, 15 Mar. 2024

Celebrities, like memoirists, are becoming more and more canny about feeding their personal life directly to the public. —Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 13 Mar. 2024

My favorite is about the two best friends who started the La Mancha development company, one of the biggest and canniest of the mini-mall builders. —Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 20 Jan. 2024

Yeoh is satisfyingly mercenary and chilling as Ms. Reynolds, toeing the line between canny businesswoman and purveyor of spiritualism in a way that keeps us guessing. —Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 9 Sep. 2023

Robot makers of any era would have loved to plug a canny, practical brain into robot bodies. —David Berreby, Scientific American, 20 Feb. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

originally Scots & regional northern English, going back to early Scots, "free from risk, sagacious, prudent, cautious," probably from can "ability" (noun derivative of can can entry 1) + -y -y entry 1

First Known Use

Adjective

1596, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adverb

1786, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

canny

adjective

can·​ny

ˈkan-ē

cannier; canniest

: watchful of one's own interest

cannily

ˈkan-ᵊl-ē

adverb

canniness

ˈkan-ē-nəs

noun