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
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Adjective
Whether through canny critique or open wist, shows about making out-of-fashion things can offer us space to predict, resist, and elegize our way through a dark and muddy cultural moment.—Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 23 Sep. 2025 The film’s portrayal of Kafka as a misunderstood genius stymied by bourgeois capitalist priorities is sympathetic but hardly radical, while its engagement with his actual work is limited, give or take some canny quotation in Marek Epstein’s script.—Guy Lodge, Variety, 20 Sep. 2025 Veltman is canny and dependable.—Andy Naylor, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2025 Fahy’s expert balancing of sweet and canny, world-weary and naïve in the role earned her an Emmy nomination in Supporting Actress and a massive following.—Antonia Blyth, Deadline, 19 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for canny
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 cancan entry 1) + -y-y entry 1
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