warier; wariest
: marked by keen caution, cunning, and watchfulness especially in detecting and escaping danger
Examples of wary in a Sentence
Great critics are sometimes wary of great authors. Eliot and Pound usually sidled past Shakespeare.
—
William Logan, New York Times Book Review, 11 Feb. 2001
Though sycamore wood was much used, pioneers were wary of the tree's fuzzy leaves, which they believed brought allergies and even consumption.
—Arthur Plotnik, The Urban Tree Book: An Uncommon Field Guide for City and Town, 2000
Modern literary novelists … wary of neat solutions and happy endings, have tended to invest their mysteries with an aura of ambiguity and to leave them unresolved.
—David Lodge, The Art of Fiction, 1992
The store owner kept a wary eye on him.
Investors are increasingly wary about putting money into stocks.
William Logan, New York Times Book Review, 11 Feb. 2001
Though sycamore wood was much used, pioneers were wary of the tree's fuzzy leaves, which they believed brought allergies and even consumption.
—Arthur Plotnik, The Urban Tree Book: An Uncommon Field Guide for City and Town, 2000
Modern literary novelists … wary of neat solutions and happy endings, have tended to invest their mysteries with an aura of ambiguity and to leave them unresolved.
—David Lodge, The Art of Fiction, 1992
The store owner kept a wary eye on him.
Investors are increasingly wary about putting money into stocks.
Recent Examples on the Web
Some critics on the left were wary of the administration’s employment of market logics and its tendency to treat citizens as consumers.
—Jacob Bruggeman & Casey Eilbert / Made By History, TIME, 3 Mar. 2025
The public is on balance wary of Musk and DOGE's access to government agency data records.
—Anthony Salvanto, CBS News, 2 Mar. 2025
Kite is wary of viewers (and institutions) looking to flatten or essentialize her art to a romanticized or one-note understanding of Indigenous thoughtways.
—Christopher T. Green, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2025
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new exhibition (March 25) takes a wary view of its own contents, which span half a millennium, arguing that the West acted out its daydreams of a docile Orient one cup-and-saucer at a time.
—Shauna Lyon, The New Yorker, 28 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for wary
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Jacob Bruggeman & Casey Eilbert / Made By History, TIME, 3 Mar. 2025
The public is on balance wary of Musk and DOGE's access to government agency data records.
—Anthony Salvanto, CBS News, 2 Mar. 2025
Kite is wary of viewers (and institutions) looking to flatten or essentialize her art to a romanticized or one-note understanding of Indigenous thoughtways.
—Christopher T. Green, Artforum, 1 Mar. 2025
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new exhibition (March 25) takes a wary view of its own contents, which span half a millennium, arguing that the West acted out its daydreams of a docile Orient one cup-and-saucer at a time.
—Shauna Lyon, The New Yorker, 28 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for wary
Articles Related to wary
Cite this Entry
“Wary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wary. Accessed 9 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
wary
adjective
ˈwa(ə)r-ē 
ˈwe(ə)r-
warier; wariest
: very cautious
especially
: being on guard against danger or trickery
wary of strangers
warily
adverb
ˈwar-ə-lē
ˈwer-
wariness
noun
ˈwar-ē-nəs
ˈwer-
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