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/ˈlɪəɹi/ · adjective
Cautious, suspicious, wary, hesitant, or nervous about something; having reservations or concerns..
Since he was bitten by a dog when he was young, he has always been leery of animals.
“[…]He was one of their top gun-fighters—always up to his ears in the thick of any fightin' that was goin' on. He never was leery of anything on two feet, I'll say that much for'm.”
“He's so darn afraid you'll be offended if he smokes. You scare him. Every time he speaks of the weather you jump him because he ain't talking about poetry or Gertie—Goethe?—or some other highbrow junk. You've got him so leery he scarcely dares to come here.”
And there was a particularly brutal villain with leery eyes, ugly mouth, with one tooth gone, and an iron jaw like a hull-dog's.
Use leery when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.
Leery means Cautious, suspicious, wary, hesitant, or nervous about something; having reservations or concerns..
Common synonyms include wary, distrustful, suspicious, mistrustful.
The opposite depends on the specific sense.
Since he was bitten by a dog when he was young, he has always been leery of animals.
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