# wary

Pronunciation: say "WAIR-ee" US /ˈwɛɚ.i/, UK /ˈwɛə.ɹi/, AUS /ˈweːɹi/

## Adjective

1. Alert to danger and on guard against deception or trickery; cautious in a suspicious way.
   - Simple: Careful because you think something might be dangerous or a trick.
   - _Investors grew wary of the startup after its founder dodged questions about revenue._
   - _Deer are wary animals and bolt at the slightest sound._
2. Showing or marked by caution; guarded and careful, as if on one's guard.
   - Simple: Done in a careful way, ready for trouble.
   - _The two dogs circled each other with wary glances._
   - _Economists greeted the strong jobs report with wary optimism._

## Verb

3. To curse someone or attack them with abusive words. *(dialectal)*
   - Simple: To curse someone or shout angry, insulting words at them.
   - _The old farmer would wary any boy he caught in his orchard._
   - _She waried the landlord up and down the street for raising the rent._

## Other meanings

- (adjective) thrifty, provident

## Origin

**Meanings 1–2** — Formed from the adjective ware and the suffix -y.
**Meaning 3** — 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 *wargaz ("criminal"). It is a doublet of warry.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/wary (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).