Definition of canny
cannier;
canniest
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Examples of canny in a Sentence
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 of canny from the Web
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In other circumstances, picking up Gerard Deulofeu, Paulinho and Nelson Semedo would have been seen as canny summer business, strengthening in areas where Barcelona needed strengthening.
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Yet the now quintessential honeymoon accommodation isn’t some folk tradition co-opted by canny hoteliers.
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In an almost annoyingly canny move, the first week is palette-themed and everything is 50 percent off, so good luck resisting.
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The fabulous, canny Charlotte Northeast leads, and Kittson O'Neill directs.
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Also, thanks to having a common enemy in Cersei and the legwork of the ever-canny Lord Varys (Conleth Hill), Daenerys can probably count on aid from the remaining Tyrells and the ruthless rulers of Dorne.
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But Aras Agalarov does not speak English, and his canny Americanized son had a closer relationship with Trump.
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Jackson played into the tabloid-ready Carmelo saga with gusto, seemingly immune to his own reputation as a canny operator who excelled at managing other people’s egos.
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But both are canny veterans from the party's moderate-to-conservative wing who won their 2014 races by margins of about 20 points.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'canny.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of canny
canny Synonyms
Synonyms
astute, shrewd, clear-eyed, clear-sighted, hard-boiled, hardheaded, heady, knowing, savvy, sharp, sharp-witted, smartAntonyms
unknowingRelated Words
artful, cagey (also cagy), crafty, cunning, devious, dodgy [chiefly British], foxy, guileful, pawky [chiefly British], slick, sly, subtle, tricky, wily; discerning, insightful, perceptive, percipient, perspicacious, sagacious, sage, sapient, wise; experienced, veteran; discriminating, discriminative; agile, alert, brainy, bright, brilliant, clever, intelligent, keen, nimble, quick, quick-witted, sharp-eyed, sharp-sighted; apt, ingenious, resourceful; calculating, schemingNear Antonyms
artless, guileless, ingenuous, innocent, naive (or naïve); exploitable, gullible (also gullable); unperceptive, unwise; dense, dull, obtuse; airheaded, birdbrained, brain-dead, brainless, dim-witted, dopey (also dopy), dumb, empty-headed, feebleminded, gormless [chiefly British], half-witted, knuckleheaded, lamebrain (or lamebrained), lunkheaded, simple, slow, slow-witted, softheaded, stupid, thickheaded, thick-witted, unintelligent, weak-minded; foolish, idiotic (also idiotical), imbecile (or imbecilic), moronic, silly, thoughtless, witless; ignorant, uninformedFirst Known Use of canny
circa 1796
CANNY Defined for English Language Learners
canny
play
adjective
Definition of canny for English Language Learners
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: very clever and able to make intelligent decisions
CANNY Defined for Kids
Learn More about canny
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See words that rhyme with canny Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for canny Spanish Central: Translation of canny Nglish: Translation of canny for Spanish speakers
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