wary

C1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈwɛɚ.i/ UK /ˈwɛə.ɹi/ See IPA manual

Freq #15467

Meanings

1

adj
careful and cautious because you sense possible danger or trouble

He was wary of strangers who came to the door at night.
2

adj
not trusting someone or something fully

Investors remain wary of putting money into the struggling company.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · careful and cautious... careful circumspect

2 adj · not trusting someone or... leery mistrustful suspicious

More cautious chary guarded

Word family

Forms warierwariestwarily

Derived forms unwarily unwarywarilywariness

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

still wary
remaining cautious or distrustful after a situation has changed

Adverb + adjective

Simplified etymology

Wary entered English in the late Middle Ages and comes from the same West Germanic root as aware. The connection reflects aware’s early sense “vigilant” or “cautious.”

Etymology

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 Proto-Germanic *wargaz (“criminal”). Doublet of warry.

warien Middle English wierġan Old English *wargijan Proto-West Germanic *wargijaną Proto-Germanic *wargaz Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# wary

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈwɛɚ.i/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈwɛə.ɹi/
**Frequency rank:** 15467

## Meanings
1. careful and cautious because you sense possible danger or trouble
2. not trusting someone or something fully

## Examples
- He was wary of strangers who came to the door at night.
- Investors remain wary of putting money into the struggling company.

## Synonyms
- careful
- cautious
- chary
- guarded

## Derived Forms
- unwarily
- unwary
- warily
- wariness

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: warien
- Root: wierġan
- Root: *wargijan
- Root: *wargijaną
- Root: *wargaz

## Etymology
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 Proto-Germanic *wargaz (“criminal”). Doublet of warry.

## AI Etymology
Wary is 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 Proto-Germanic *wargaz (“criminal”). Doublet of warry. Important historical forms include Middle English warien, Old English wierġan, Proto-West Germanic *wargijan, Proto-Germanic *wargijaną, and Proto-Germanic *wargaz. In present-day use, it can mean careful and cautious because you sense possible danger or trouble, or not trusting someone or something fully.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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