▪ I. leery, a.1 Obs. exc. dial.
(ˈlɪərɪ)
Forms: 7 leirey, 8–9 leary, leery, 9 lairy.
[f. leer a.1 + -y1.]
= leer a.1 in various senses. (In quot. 1676 = containing empty spaces or hollows.)
| 1676 J. Beaumont in Phil. Trans. XI. 734 These Stones are generally found in Leirey places (as they call it) that is, Cavernous. 1787 Grose Prov. Gloss., Leary, empty. Dorsetsh. 1796 W. Marshall W. Eng. I. 328 Lear or Leary, empty, as an unloaded cart or waggon. 1874 W. Cory Lett. & Jrnls. (1897) 372 My cart goes ‘leery’ (= empty) to fetch coals. 1889 T. Hardy Mayor Casterbr. xx, I've been strolling in the Walks and churchyard, father, till I feel quite leery. 1891 ― Tess (1900) 44/1 And he so leery and tired that 'a didn't know what to do. |
▪ II. leery, a.2 slang.
(ˈlɪərɪ)
Also 9 leary.
[? f. leer a.2 + -y1.]
1. a. Wide-awake, knowing, ‘fly’. b. orig. U.S. Doubtful, suspicious (about, of). Cf. lairy a.2
| 1718 C. Hitching Regulator 20 The Cull is leery, alias the Man is shy. 1796 Grose's Dict. Vulg. Tongue, Leery, on one's guard. 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Leary, synonymous with fly. 1817 Sporting Mag. I. 118 Frequently dropping their hands when at leary distance. 1820 Ibid. VI. 80 It was evident to the leary ones that his condition was bad. 1846 Swell's Night Guide 46 The president..who is generally the most cheeky, leary, downy cove they can tumble to. 1882 Five Y. Penal Servit. iii. 71 A ‘leary look’, in which fear, defiance and cunning are mixed up together. 1885 Bazaar 2 Jan. 1/2 The deep earth bank from a hole in which a leary water rat peeps upward at the terrier. 1893 Oxford Mag. 24 May 382/2 The leery lawyer simply stepped inside. 1896 Ade Artie iii. 29 The old lady's a little leary of me, but I can win her all right. Ibid. xii. 105 I'm leary of it. 1905 Dialect Notes III. 63 He is leery of book agents. 1909 R. A. Wason Happy Hawkins 122, I was rather leery about Jabez. 1923 L. J. Vance Baroque vi. 56 If you hadn't..made me leary that maybe you'd tip your friends off. 1942 E. Paul Narrow St. xx. 165 The Surrealists discovered that they were not, in fact, Communists and that Moscow was leery of their antics. 1956 B. Holiday Lady sings Blues (1973) xii. 108, I was leery of any man who could throw those things back at me in a quarrel. 1960 B. Crump Good Keen Man 113 Harry didn't entirely agree with my suggestion that [my dog] Flynn was probably a bit leery of boars since the one that ‘killed’ him at Maran. 1965 Listener 9 Sept. 391/3, I am..leary of theatrical revivalism. 1966 Economist 5 Feb. 489/1 At first, centre voters may be fed up with the government in power, but they are leery of voting for the other side, so they stop halfway and vote Liberal. 1969 Southerly XXIX. 9 Leery though I am of Greeks, Sophocles sums up my preoccupations effectively. 1970 New Yorker 10 Oct. 174/2 Many tennis authorities have been a little leery about placing her on a level with Lenglen. 1971 [see Geheimrat]. 1973 Tucson (Arizona) Daily Citizen 22 Aug. 28/1 The Braunlichs will also tell you that, sad as it is, middle America is leery of things it gets for free. |
2. U.S. slang. Careful.
| 1911 H. Quick Yellowstone Nights xii. 300 But be leery that we don't get stuck for non-performance. |
Hence ˈleerily adv., in a leery manner.
| 1859 Farrar J. Home 242 No, you very leerily managed to make the other fellow shoot him. |
Add: ˈleeriness n.
| 1961 in Webster. 1976 Aviation Week 16 Aug. 35/1 The present leeriness of lenders toward the airlines would be accentuated by..deregulation. 1991 R. Brookhiser Way of WASP iii. 32 The English..are also suspicious of ambition, but the social origin of their leeriness is rather different. |