leery
/'liəri/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Openly distrustful and unwilling to confide: Feeling or showing a lack of trust in someone or something; wary, suspicious, or cautious.
Usage
The adjective "leery" describes a state of cautious distrust. It is typically used with the prepositions "of" or "about" to indicate the object of suspicion (e.g., leery of something or someone). It often implies a sense of wariness based on instinct, past experience, or a perception of potential risk.
Examples
- Adjective:
- After being scammed once, she was leery of any online offers that seemed too good to be true.
- Investors are growing leery about the stability of the new market.
- He gave the stranger a leery look, unsure of his intentions.
Advanced Usage
- "to be leery of doing something": to be hesitant or distrustful about undertaking a specific action.
- I'm leery of signing the contract without having a lawyer review it first.
Variants and Related Words
- Leeriness (n): The state or quality of being leery; wariness.
- His initial leeriness turned out to be justified.
Synonyms
- Wary: Feeling or showing caution about possible dangers or problems.
- Suspicious: Having or showing a cautious distrust of someone or something.
- Distrustful: Lacking trust; suspicious.
- Cautious: Careful to avoid potential problems or dangers.
- Chary: Cautiously or suspiciously reluctant to do something.
Antonyms
- Trusting: Showing or tending to have a belief in a person's honesty or sincerity.
- Gullible: Easily persuaded to believe something; credulous.
- Credulous: Having or showing too great a readiness to believe things.
Related Phrases/Idioms
- To give someone/something a wide berth: To avoid or stay away from someone or something, often due to being leery of them.
- She was leery of his aggressive sales tactics, so she gave him a wide berth at the conference.
Adjective
- openly distrustful and unwilling to confide