war·y

(wâr′ē)

adj. war·i·er, war·i·est

1. On guard; watchful: taught to be wary of strangers.

2. Characterized by caution: a wary glance at the black clouds.

[Middle English ware, from Old English wær; see wer- in Indo-European roots.]

war′i·ly adv.

war′i·ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

wary

(ˈwɛərɪ)

adj, warier or wariest

1. watchful, cautious, or alert

2. characterized by caution or watchfulness

[C16: from ware² + -y¹]

ˈwarily adv

ˈwariness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

war•y

(ˈwɛər i)

adj. war•i•er, war•i•est.

1. watchful; being on one's guard against danger.

2. arising from caution: a wary look.

[1545–55; ware² + -y¹]

war′i•ly, adv.

war′i•ness, n.

syn: See careful.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.	1.	wary - marked by keen caution and watchful prudence; "they were wary in their movements"; "a wary glance at the black clouds"; "taught to be wary of strangers" unwary - not alert to danger or deception; "the shrieks of unwary animals taken by surprise"; "some thieves prey especially on unwary travelers"; "seduce the unwary reader into easy acquiescence"- O.J.Campbell
	2.	wary - openly distrustful and unwilling to confide leery, mistrustful, suspicious, untrusting distrustful - having or showing distrust; "a man of distrustful nature"; "my experience...in other fields of law has made me distrustful of rules of thumb generally"- B.N.Cardozo; "vigilant and distrustful superintendence"- Thomas Jefferson

wary

adjective

1. suspicious, sceptical, mistrustful, suspecting, guarded, apprehensive, cagey (informal), leery (slang), distrustful, on your guard, chary, heedful My mother always told me to be wary of strangers.

2. watchful, careful, alert, cautious, prudent, attentive, vigilant, circumspect, heedful Keep a wary eye on children when they are playing near water.
watchful rash, reckless, careless, negligent, unsuspecting, foolhardy, unwary, unguarded, imprudent, remiss

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

wary

adjective

1. Vigilantly attentive:

alert, observant, open-eyed, vigilant, wakeful, watchful, wide-awake.

Idiom: on the ball.

2. Trying attentively to avoid danger, risk, or error:

careful, cautious, chary, circumspect, forehanded, gingerly, prudent.

Translations

حَذِر، مُحْتَرِس

forsigtig

vorsichtig wachsam

cauteloso cauto prudente

prudent

bizalmatlankodóelővigyázatosgyanakvókörültekintőóvatos

varkár

cautamente cautela diffidente prudente

piesardzīgs

dikkatli

小心翼翼的谨慎的

wary

[ˈwɛərɪ] ADJ (warier (compar) (wariest (superl))) [person] → receloso; [manner] → cauteloso, precavido
she seems very wary → parece estar muy recelosa
banks are becoming increasingly wary → los bancos están volviéndose cada vez más precavidos
to keep a wary eye on sth/sb I kept a wary eye on the gathering stormclouds → observaba con cierta preocupación los nubarrones que se acercaban
the president had to keep a wary eye on the radical faction of his party → el presidente tenía que vigilar de cerca al sector más radical de su partido
he gave her a wary look → la miró con recelo
the question made her wary → la pregunta la puso en guardia
to be wary of sth/sb → desconfiar de algo/algn, no fiarse de algo/algn
to be wary of strangers → desconfiar or no fiarse de los desconocidos
they were very wary of his violent temper → se mostraban muy cautelosos debido a su temperamento violento

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

wary

[ˈwɛəri] adj → méfiant(e)
to be wary about doing sth, to be wary of doing sth → être méfiant(e) à l'idée de faire qch
to be wary of sb/sth → se méfier de qn/qch
to keep a wary eye on sb → surveiller qn de près

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

wary

adj (+er) → vorsichtig; (= looking and planning ahead) → umsichtig, klug, wachsam; look → misstrauisch, argwöhnisch; to be wary of or about somebody/something → sich vor jdm/einer Sache in Acht nehmen, vor jdm/einer Sache auf der Hut sein; to be wary of or about doing something → seine Zweifel or Bedenken haben, ob man etw tun soll; be wary of talking to strangers → hüte dich davor, mit Fremden zu sprechen; to keep a wary eye on somebody/something → ein wachsames Auge auf jdn/etw haben

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

wary

[ˈwɛərɪ] adj (-ier (comp) (-iest (superl))) (gen) → prudente; (manner) → cauto/a
to be wary (of) → essere diffidente (di)
to keep a wary eye on sth → tenere d'occhio qc
to be wary about or of doing sth → andare cauto/a nel fare qc

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

wary

(ˈweəri) adjective

cautious or on one's guard (about or concerning). Be wary of lending money to him.

ˈwarily adverb

ˈwariness noun

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Vanderburgh made up by activity and intelligence for his ignorance of the country; was always wary, always on the alert; discovered every movement of his rivals, however secret and was not to be eluded or misled.

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Therefore theism did never perturb states; for it makes men wary of themselves, as looking no further: and we see the times inclined to atheism (as the time of Augustus Caesar) were civil times.

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A low murmur, but one that was clearly indicative of dissatisfaction, passed among the attentive listeners, and served to inform the old man that he had not been sufficiently wary in proposing a measure that he intended should notify the travellers in the brake of the presence of their dangerous neighbours.

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When serenely advancing on one of these journeys, if any strange suspicious sights are seen, my lord whale keeps a wary eye on his interesting family.

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"Our new name has been chosen with a wary eye to your suggestions.

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Nicholas understood that something must have happened between Sonya and Dolokhov before dinner, and with the kindly sensitiveness natural to him was very gentle and wary with them both at dinner.

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And, looking at his strong, agile, assiduously careful and needlessly wary movements, the mother felt her mind at rest, and smiled gaily and approvingly as she watched him.

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He groped along as stealthily, with as cautious a tread, and as wary an outlook, as a thief entering a chamber where a man lies only half asleep -- or, it may be, broad awake -- with purpose to steal the very treasure which this man guards as the apple of his eye.

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Just for a moment or two they wrestled playfully, until the scent of Sheeta, the panther, brought them to their feet, alert and wary. The great cat was passing through the jungle in front of them.

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He had come out of the desert country to the east into a land of plenty but though he was young and strong, the wary grass-eaters had managed to elude his mighty talons each time he had thought to make a kill.

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An unequal fight it seemed to most; but there were a few, and they the most experienced, who saw something in the youth's steady gray eye and wary step which left the issue open to doubt.

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"And the mightier they are the more sane and wary should we be.

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