leery
pronunciation
How to pronounce leery in British English:
UK [ˈlɪəri]
How to pronounce leery in American English:
US [ˈlɪri]
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- Adjective:
- openly distrustful and unwilling to confide
Word Origin
- leery (adj.)
- "untrusting, suspicious, alert," 1718, originally slang, with -y (2), and perhaps from dialectal lere "learning, knowledge" (see lore), or from leer (v.) in some now-obscure sense. OED suggests connection with archaic leer (adj.) "empty, useless," a general Germanic word (cognate with German leer, Dutch laar), of unknown origin.
Example
- 1. Yet it seems congress is getting a bit leery over these huge deficits .
- 2. Most employers are leery of hiring severely autistic people , but not all .
- 3. Don was very leery of his shifting problems , but laurie volunteered her xt225 for don to ride .
- 4. Lenders will be leery of high risk investments for the next couple of years .
- 5. Musicians and labels once leery of making songs available digitally for games are now embracing the opportunity .