chary

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈtʃɛri/ UK /ˈtʃeəri/ See IPA manual

Homophones

cherry /ˈtʃɛri/

Minimal pairs

Sounds like serry /tʃ/ vs /s/

adj

Meanings

1

adj
cautious or wary; sparing in giving or spending

She was chary of lending money to acquaintances she barely knew.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · cautious or wary; sparing... cautious wary careful circumspect guarded leery sparing

Opposites

reckless careless lavish generous heedless

Word family

Derived forms charilychariness

Related forms care

Etymology

From Old English cearig ('sorrowful, anxious, careful'), from caru, cearu ('care, sorrow'), from Proto-Germanic *karō. The sense shifted from 'grieving' to 'cautious, sparing'.

cearig Old English *karō Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

# chary

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** ˈtʃɛri
**IPA (UK):** ˈtʃeəri

## Meanings
1. cautious or wary; sparing in giving or spending

## Examples
- She was chary of lending money to acquaintances she barely knew.

## Synonyms
- cautious
- wary
- careful
- circumspect
- guarded
- leery
- sparing

## Antonyms
- reckless
- careless
- lavish
- generous
- heedless

## Derived Forms
- charily
- chariness

## Related Forms
- care

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: cearig
- Root: *karō

## Etymology
From Old English cearig ('sorrowful, anxious, careful'), from caru, cearu ('care, sorrow'), from Proto-Germanic *karō. The sense shifted from 'grieving' to 'cautious, sparing'.

## AI Etymology
Chary is from Old English cearig ('sorrowful, anxious, careful'), from caru, cearu ('care, sorrow'), from Proto-Germanic *karō. The sense shifted from 'grieving' to 'cautious, sparing'. In present-day use, it means cautious or wary; sparing in giving or spending. Derived formations include charily and chariness. Related vocabulary includes care.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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chary

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