Standard Lemma guide

chary

adj · adv · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈt͡ʃɛəɹi/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • /ˈt͡ʃɛɹi/ Mary–marry–merry merger
  • /ˈt͡ʃɛəɹi/ without the Mary–marry–merry merger
  • Australian: /ˈt͡ʃeː.ɹi/
  • New-Zealand: /ˈt͡ʃeəɹi/ without the cheer–chair merger
  • /ˈt͡ʃiəɹi/ New Zealand, cheer–chair merger
  • Scotland: /ˈt͡ʃeɹɪ/
  • Scotland: /ˈt͡ʃeɹe/
  • /ˈt͡ʃɜːɹɪ/ Lancashire, fair–fur merger
  • rhymes with -ɛəɹi
  • homophone: cherry (Mary–marry–merry merger)
  • homophone: cheery (cheer–chair merger)
  • CMU ARPABET: CH AA1 R IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Careful, cautious, shy, wary.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: alert, attentive, careful, cautelous, cautious, canny, chary, circumspect, conservative, deliberate, discreet, guarded, heedful, heedy, hesitant, meticulous, mindful, prudent, reckful, safe, sensible, shy, slow, tentative, timid, timorous, well-advised, wary

Antonyms: unchary, careless, cursory, derelict, heedless, irregardless, irrespective, lash, lax, neglectful, negligent, reckless, regardless, remiss, slack, slapdash, sloppy, slovenly, slipshod, unfaithful

2

adj

Meaning 2

Excessively particular or fussy about details; fastidious.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: unchary

3

adj

Meaning 3

Not disposed to give freely; not lavish; frugal, sparing.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: unchary

4

adj

Meaning 4

Cared for, regarded as precious; cherished.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: unchary

5

adv

Meaning 5

Synonym of charily: carefully, cautiously, warily.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cannily, carefully, charily, chary, conservatively, discreetly, gingerly, prudently, safely, tentatively, warily

Antonyms: carelessly, incautiously, uncarefully, uncautiously, unwarily

6

adjective satellite

Meaning 6

characterized by great caution and wariness

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a cagey avoidance of a definite answer
  • chary of the risks involved
  • a chary investor

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cagey, cagy

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English chari, charre, charri, chary, Early Middle English cearig, chariȝ (“concerned with, diligent; sad, sorrowful; of a person: cherished, loved”), from Old English ċeariġ (“careful; pensive; chary, wary; anxious, sad, sorrowful; dire, grievous”), from Proto-West Germanic *karag (“anxious; sad”), from Proto-Germanic *karō + *-gaz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵeh2r- (“exclamation; voice”) + *-kos (suffix forming adjectives with the meaning ‘pertaining to; typical of’)); analysable as care + -y. The English word is cognate with Danish karrig (“miserly, stingy”), Dutch karig (“austere, scant, sparing”), Norwegian karrig (“barren; meagre; poor”), Old High German charag, karag (“sparing”) (modern German karg (“barren; meagre, poor”)), Old Saxon carag, karag, Swedish karg (“austere; barren; hungry; needy, poor”). See further at care.

Across languages

Translations

15 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: предпазлив (predpazliv) — careful, cautious — see also careful, cautious
  • Bulgarian: сдържан (sdǎržan) — careful, cautious — see also careful, cautious
  • Czech: opatrný — careful, cautious — see also careful, cautious
  • Czech: obezřetný — careful, cautious — see also careful, cautious
  • Dutch: voorzichtig — careful, cautious — see also careful, cautious
  • Dutch: schuw — careful, cautious — see also careful, cautious
  • Dutch: preuts — careful, cautious — see also careful, cautious
  • Dutch: karig — careful, cautious — see also careful, cautious
  • German: vorsichtig — careful, cautious — see also careful, cautious
  • Irish: drogallach — careful, cautious — see also careful, cautious
  • Norwegian: forsiktig — careful, cautious — see also careful, cautious
  • Norwegian: varsom — careful, cautious — see also careful, cautious
  • Polish: ostrożny — careful, cautious — see also careful, cautious
  • Polish: rozważny — careful, cautious — see also careful, cautious
  • Serbo-Croatian: skrban — careful, cautious — see also careful, cautious