Synonyms of canny

canny

adjective

ˈka-nē 

1

as in smart

having or showing a practical cleverness or judgment

a canny card player, good at psyching out his opponents

Synonyms & Similar Words

• smart
• astute
• shrewd
• savvy
• wise
• clever
• sharp
• knowing
• intelligent
• veteran
• brilliant
• experienced
• hardheaded
• keen
• heady
• cunning
• quick
• clear-eyed
• wily
• slick
• sharp-witted
• clear-sighted
• bright
• subtle
• sly
• crafty
• sagacious
• hard-boiled
• perceptive
• artful
• cagey
• tricky
• perspicacious
• discerning
• devious
• insightful
• foxy
• guileful
• pawky
• resourceful
• percipient
• ingenious
• sage
• brainy
• nimble
• dodgy
• discriminating
• sapient
• apt
• discriminative
• agile
• calculating
• alert
• scheming
• quick-witted
• sharp-eyed
• sharp-sighted

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• naive
• ingenuous
• guileless
• unknowing
• artless
• innocent
• gullible
• unwise
• exploitable
• dense
• unperceptive
• simple
• dumb
• slow
• obtuse
• stupid
• foolish
• dopey
• unintelligent
• brainless
• dull
• thoughtless
• silly
• idiotic
• brain-dead
• ignorant
• witless
• thickheaded
• weak-minded
• moronic
• feebleminded
• uninformed
• imbecile
• gormless
• slow-witted
• knuckleheaded
• softheaded
• dim-witted
• lunkheaded
• half-witted
• airheaded
• birdbrained
• thick-witted
• empty-headed
• lamebrain

2

as in comfortable

chiefly Scottish enjoying physical comfort

warm and canny under the woolen bedcovers, we didn't mind the chilly Scottish nights

Synonyms & Similar Words

• comfortable
• relaxed
• at ease
• snug
• comfy
• cozy
• warm
• pleased
• resting
• satisfied
• contented
• content
• easygoing
• at home
• unperturbed
• toasty
• easeful
• laid-back
• untroubled
• undisturbed
• peaceful

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• uncomfortable
• dissatisfied
• troubled
• disturbed
• displeased
• discontented
• agitated
• perturbed

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of canny

Layla and Shams have become canny in learning how to survive, but Shams wasn’t able to save their other brother Tareq or her husband, both of whom were killed. — Jay Weissberg, Variety, 17 May 2026

Deploying a top-notch slutty house-meets-electro record is one of the canniest moves he’s ever made. — Hattie Lindert, Pitchfork, 15 May 2026

Byron’s a canny, bold, and incisive critic. — Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 27 Apr. 2026

Yet in the three episodes HBO provided for review—episodes whose technical elements can be stunning and manipulation of genre conventions canny—Levinson does nothing to deepen his antihero’s search for meaning. — Judy Berman, Time, 10 Apr. 2026