leery
adjective
\ ˈlir-ē
\
\
variants:
or less commonly leary
Definition of leery
: suspicious, wary
—often used with of leery of strangersShe seemed a little leery of the proposal.
Examples of leery in a Sentence
They were leery of their neighbors.
Recent Examples on the Web
Many economists are leery of broadly prohibiting companies from entering new businesses, fearing potential losses of efficiency and consumer welfare. — Steve Lohr, New York Times, "How Should Big Tech Be Reined In? Here Are 4 Prominent Ideas," 20 Aug. 2019 Perry’s murder unites - and divides - the Monterey 5 Although the investigation of Perry’s death is legally closed, parents and teachers remain leery of the Monterey 5 as the new school year begins in Season 2. — Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, "Everything we know about 'Big Little Lies' Season 2, from Meryl Streep to Amabella," 6 June 2019 Yet even critics of the deal were leery of the fallout from killing it. — Simon Shuster/london, Time, "A Kremlin-Linked Firm Invested Millions in Kentucky. Were They After More Than Money?," 13 Aug. 2019 While technically eligible for part of the postseason, Duggar is leery of attempting weeks of rehab that could be spoiled by one swing, dive or slide that could worsen the injury and set back his recovery. — Henry Schulman, SFChronicle.com, "Giants place Steven Duggar on IL, claim St. Mary’s alum Kyle Barraclough," 9 Aug. 2019 Judges leery of recidivism have begun to embrace risk-assessment tools. — Ava Kofman, ProPublica, "Digital Jail: How Electronic Monitoring Drives Defendants Into Debt," 3 July 2019 Among the leery travelers: * David Rothstein, of Cleveland, who switched his large family gathering, scheduled for December, to Jamaica instead. — Susan Glaser, cleveland.com, "Northeast Ohio travelers leery about travel to Dominican Republic, change plans in wake of American deaths abroad," 26 June 2019 In our view, the limited competition among potential host cities for the 2026 Winter Games was only natural given the soaring costs to put on these events and the erosion of public support among leery taxpayers. — Eva Kassens-noor, The Conversation, "Italy’s minimal competition to host the 2026 Winter Olympics," 25 June 2019 Some East Coast media, perhaps a few acting as mouthpieces for baseball executives and other insiders, were particularly leery of the relationship between Selig and Reinsdorf. — Phil Thompson, chicagotribune.com, "In his new book, former MLB Commissioner Bud Selig calls the idea that White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf pulled his strings ‘a bunch of garbage’," 9 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'leery.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for leery
leery
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of leery
: feeling or showing a lack of trust in someone or something
See the full definition for leery in the English Language Learners Dictionary
leery
adjective
\ ˈlir-ē\
Kids Definition of leery
: suspicious sense 2, wary
… he was really a little leery of venturing out into New York City.— George Selden, The Cricket in Times Square
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