Summoning LanguageHat

November 27, 2006 7:16 AM

Wary vs. Leery- what is the distinction?

This has bugged me for a long time.

What is the difference, if any, in using "wary" and "leery?" I just know that most of the time I think people are using them incorrectly, but I can't put my finger on exactly why.

LanguageHat, can you help?

posted by I_Love_Bananas to writing & language (16 comments total)

Wary suggests to me being aware of a threat of some kind. Leery is more digust, distrust, not wanting to go there.
posted by CunningLinguist at 7:21 AM on November 27, 2006

I'm wary of his temper but leery of romantic advice. Like that.
posted by CunningLinguist at 7:24 AM on November 27, 2006

According to wordnet they are, in fact, synonyms.
posted by jourman2 at 7:26 AM on November 27, 2006

Just don't use "weary" for these. (Personal pet peeve, I hear it all the time.)
posted by TonyRobots at 7:31 AM on November 27, 2006 [1 favorite]

IANAL(inguist), but I don't use "leery" to imply cautiousness of physical danger. I'll use "wary" for both tangible and intangible danger.
posted by nathancaswell at 7:37 AM on November 27, 2006

TonyRobots, I totally agree.

That is right up there with "pouring over a book," which I see WAY too often- in print, no less!

Cunning, I get what you are saying... makes sense and goes along with my "inner sense" of appropriate usage.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 7:38 AM on November 27, 2006

TonyRobots is a mind-reader. I LOVE it when people think that "weary" is the right word to use.

"I'm very weary of this boat."
"You seem quite weary about meeting my mother."

All these tiiired people...
posted by Milkman Dan at 7:39 AM on November 27, 2006

Well, they are used pretty much synonymously in the OED citations. The difference seems to be that you are leery of/about someone or something whereas you can simply be a wary person, but not a leery person.
posted by vacapinta at 7:46 AM on November 27, 2006

To me they aren't synonyms. Wary means cautious, and leery means doubtful, skeptical, worried.
posted by emelenjr at 7:50 AM on November 27, 2006

exactly. Cautious vs suspicious.
posted by CunningLinguist at 8:04 AM on November 27, 2006

I usually use wary when I'm just trying to show general cautiousness, and leery if it's a "once bitten twice shy" situation, or if there are people or a transaction involved. Somehow, I think leery is a stronger word than wary. Leery is the cynical big brother of wary.
posted by cosmicbandito at 8:06 AM on November 27, 2006 [1 favorite]

Paul Brians agrees that they are close synonyms.
posted by Rhomboid at 8:49 AM on November 27, 2006

I'm wary of paranoids, but leery of LSD. Like that.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:29 AM on November 27, 2006

According to wordnet they are, in fact, synonyms.

Don't trust Wordnet for authoritative definitions. Wordnet isn't a dictionary, it's a database for computational linguistics, and this FAQ answer hints at how that matters:

WordNet is organized by the concept of synonym sets (synsets), groups of words that are roughly synonymous in a given context. The glossary definition and the example sentences are shared among all synonyms in a given synset. (source)

Wordnet has definitions to differentiate between senses, not to serve as a completely accurate description of how the word is used, and its idea of what makes words synonyms is very liberal compared to standard dictionaries.
posted by mendel at 10:09 AM on November 27, 2006

Well, the Oxford English Dictionary says:

Wary
(verb, first appearing c725) - To invoke a curse upon; to declare accursed; to pour maledictions upon.
(noun, first appearing in the year 1000) - A felon, outlaw, villain.
(adjective, first appearing in 1552) - Given to caution, habitually on one's guard against danger, deception, or mistake; circumspect.

Leery (adjective, first appearing in 1718) 1. a. Wide-awake, knowing, ‘fly’. b. orig. U.S. Doubtful, suspicious (about, of). Cf. LAIRY a.2

I don't know about connotations, but this may help you.
posted by frecklefaerie at 1:30 PM on November 27, 2006

I agree with emelenjr, and I agree with mendel about being wary about Wordnet.
posted by languagehat at 5:43 AM on November 28, 2006