wary

adjective \ ˈwer-ē \

Updated on: 13 May 2018

Definition of wary

warier; wariest

: marked by keen caution, cunning, and watchfulness especially in detecting and escaping danger

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warily

play \ˈwer-ə-lē\ adverb

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wariness

play \ˈwer-ē-nəs\ noun

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Examples of wary in a Sentence

Great critics are sometimes wary of great authors. Eliot and Pound usually sidled past Shakespeare. —William Logan, New York Times Book Review, 11 Feb. 2001
Though sycamore wood was much used, pioneers were wary of the tree's fuzzy leaves, which they believed brought allergies and even consumption. —Arthur Plotnik, The Urban Tree Book: An Uncommon Field Guide for City and Town, 2000
Modern literary novelists … wary of neat solutions and happy endings, have tended to invest their mysteries with an aura of ambiguity and to leave them unresolved. —David Lodge, The Art of Fiction, 1992
The store owner kept a wary eye on him.
Investors are increasingly wary about putting money into stocks.

Recent Examples of wary from the Web

Jason was mildly wary of his new nicotine habit, as most young Juulers are.

— jia tolentino, The New Yorker, "The Promise of Vaping and the Rise of Juul," 7 May 2018
Brussels is also wary of making an exception to WTO rules in exchange for waivers.

— emre peker, WSJ, "U.S. Tariff Delay Leaves EU Relieved but Dissatisfied," 1 May 2018
Related Israel is increasingly wary of Iran's influence in neighboring Syria, three U.S. officials say.

— NBC News, "Israel seems to be preparing for war with Iran, U.S. officials say," 1 May 2018
But Watson was now slightly wary of a man who was increasingly carving out an expanding role for himself.

— carl martin, Detroit Free Press, "Fab Five scandal doesn't tell full story of Ed Martin: 'He helped everybody'," 30 Apr. 2018
While the House may have signed off on the first measure, the Senate -- where Harris has less influence -- is more wary of it.

— julia o'donoghue, NOLA.com, "Louisiana House Republican chairman pushes bills to benefit gas stations, which he owns," 27 Apr. 2018
The Naval Acadamy star owed five years of military service following his time in Annapolis and NFL teams were wary of making a pick in 1964 that wouldn’t payoff until 1969, if at all.

— chris chase, For The Win, "The best late-round NFL draft picks not named Tom Brady," 25 Apr. 2018
But at a time when independents, and even some Republicans, nationally are increasingly wary of the GOP, Democrat Hiral Tipirneni has mounted a serious challenge to Lesko.

— ronald j. hansen, azcentral, "Everything you need to know about Tuesday's Arizona special election for Congress," 22 Apr. 2018
And, while his brand of Ayn Randian libertarianism remains influential in tech circles, companies like Facebook are increasingly wary of regulation and Thiel’s bombastic politics invite unwanted scrutiny.

— alex shephard, New Republic, "Peter Thiel’s Lonely Culture War," 16 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'wary.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of wary

¹ware + ¹-y

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First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

wary Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of wary

cautious, circumspect, wary, chary mean prudently watchful and discreet in the face of danger or risk. cautious implies the exercise of forethought usually prompted by fear of danger.