variants
or less commonly leary
: suspicious, wary
—often used with of
leery of strangers
She seemed a little leery of the proposal.
Examples of leery in a Sentence
They were leery of their neighbors.
Recent Examples on the Web
At the same time, at around $80 per ounce currently, the metal hasn't experienced such rapid growth as to exclude beginners and other investors leery of overpaying, either.
—
Matt Richardson, CBS News, 8 Jan. 2026
In a 2024 business profile in the Naperville Sun, Mowry was leery of the impact construction work downtown would have on business.
—Steve Metsch, Chicago Tribune, 6 Jan. 2026
But in an industry whose currency has historically been trust, most news brands have been leery of turning their core relationship with their readers over to unreliable LLMs.
—Max Tani, semafor.com, 15 Dec. 2025
Ahiycodae added that there are some advocacy organizations that have been leery of being publicly affiliated with POP NYC because of the connection to Mangione, which could scare away financial backers who don’t want controversy associated with their donations.
—Lorena O'Neil, Rolling Stone, 24 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for leery
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Matt Richardson, CBS News, 8 Jan. 2026
In a 2024 business profile in the Naperville Sun, Mowry was leery of the impact construction work downtown would have on business.
—Steve Metsch, Chicago Tribune, 6 Jan. 2026
But in an industry whose currency has historically been trust, most news brands have been leery of turning their core relationship with their readers over to unreliable LLMs.
—Max Tani, semafor.com, 15 Dec. 2025
Ahiycodae added that there are some advocacy organizations that have been leery of being publicly affiliated with POP NYC because of the connection to Mangione, which could scare away financial backers who don’t want controversy associated with their donations.
—Lorena O'Neil, Rolling Stone, 24 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for leery
Cite this Entry
“Leery.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/leery. Accessed 10 Jan. 2026.
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leery
adjective
: suspicious sense 2, wary
leery of strangers
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