Subscriber login
Password
Forgot your password?
Library card login
Login with Shibboleth® »
Login with Athens »
Close menu
Oxford Dictionaries Online
The world's most trusted dictionaries
About
Subscriber services
What's new
Contact us
Help
Subscribe now
Already a subscriber or in a subscribing organization?
Login
Dictionary
Other language resources
US English
World English
Dictionary
Better writing
World of words
Puzzles and games
For children and schools
For learners of English
Email
Cite
leery
(leery)
Pronunciation:
/ˈlɪəri/
adjective
(
leerier
,
leeriest
)
informal
cautious or wary due to realistic suspicions:
a city
leery of
gang violence
Derivatives
leeriness
noun
Origin:
late 17th century
: from obsolete
leer
'looking askance', from
leer
1
+
-y
1
Nearby Words
leech
1
leech
2
leech
3
leechcraft
Leeds
leek
leer
1
leer
2
leervis
leery
lees
leet
1
leet
2
leet
3
Leeuwenhoek, Antoni van
leeward
Leeward Islands
leewardly
leeway