Adjective
a canny card player, good at psyching out his opponents
warm and canny under the woolen bedcovers, we didn't mind the chilly Scottish nights
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
But with her craft, and sense of history, and air of normality, and maybe, sure, even some canny marketing, Lana Del Rey might be the perfect person to carry the torch and propel the past into tomorrow.—Tim Molloy, SPIN, 21 June 2024 Other, cannier actors might learn from Prigozhin, melding his populism with a political program that has some purchase beyond mutinous mercenaries and that might attract a cadre within the Russian elite.—Liana Fix, Foreign Affairs, 27 June 2023 Casting Anderson is a canny decision for a number of reasons.—Randee Dawn, Los Angeles Times, 13 June 2024 The surging success of Nvidia and its chips is driven by its technology, canny marketing, and the requirements of…
Sherwani told Bloomberg the hub is currently focused on relocating and establishing new chip companies without fabs, or fabrication sites, which is where chips are manufactured.—Britney Nguyen, Quartz, 5 June 2024 See all Example Sentences for canny
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'canny.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Adjective
originally Scots & regional northern English, going back to early Scots, "free from risk, sagacious, prudent, cautious," probably from can "ability" (noun derivative of cancan entry 1) + -y-y entry 1
Share