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
Wall Street has long been leery of Palantir’s runaway valuation.
—
Bloomberg, Mercury News, 4 Aug. 2025
Ironheart, though, has yet to be renewed, and the way that the series — which wrapped filming back in late 2022 — was slow-walked onto our screens has many leery of Marvel’s future plans for Riri & Co.
—Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 3 July 2025
While Mira remains a tad leery of the dog, the 12-year-old cat is getting along well with her new feline siblings, Max and Milo.
—Jen Reeder, Forbes.com, 16 June 2025
Many farmers are also leery of solar, worrying that agrivoltaics could take working farmland out of use, affect their current operations or deteriorate soils.
—Robert Pearlman, ArsTechnica, 11 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for leery
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Bloomberg, Mercury News, 4 Aug. 2025
Ironheart, though, has yet to be renewed, and the way that the series — which wrapped filming back in late 2022 — was slow-walked onto our screens has many leery of Marvel’s future plans for Riri & Co.
—Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 3 July 2025
While Mira remains a tad leery of the dog, the 12-year-old cat is getting along well with her new feline siblings, Max and Milo.
—Jen Reeder, Forbes.com, 16 June 2025
Many farmers are also leery of solar, worrying that agrivoltaics could take working farmland out of use, affect their current operations or deteriorate soils.
—Robert Pearlman, ArsTechnica, 11 July 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 21 Aug. 2025.
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leery
adjective
: suspicious sense 2, wary
leery of strangers
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