Wary

//ˈwɛə.ɹi// adj, verb

adj, verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To curse, revile. dialectal
Adjective
  1. 1
    Cautious of danger; carefully watching and guarding against deception, trickery, and dangers; suspiciously prudent

    "He is wary of dogs."

  2. 2
    Characterized by caution; guarded; careful; on one's guard
  3. 3
    thrifty, provident
Adjective
  1. 1
    marked by keen caution and watchful prudence wordnet
  2. 2
    openly distrustful and unwilling to confide wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
carefulcautiouscharycircumspectdiscreetguarded

Antonyms

All antonyms
unwary

Example

More examples

"I was wary of showing my intentions."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From the adjective ware + -y.

Etymology 2

From Middle English warien, from Old English wierġan (“to curse, do evil”), from Proto-West Germanic *wargijan, from Proto-Germanic *wargijaną (“to condemn, curse”), from Proto-Germanic *wargaz (“criminal”). Doublet of warry.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.