chary
/ˈt͡ʃeː.ɹi/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 1.64 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Excessively particular or fussy about details; fastidious.
adv
Synonym of charily: carefully, cautiously, warily.
Example Sentences
- "The Charieſt maide is prodigall enough, / If ſhe vnmaske hir beautie to the Moone."
- "[E]ls is he chary and wary to lay himſelfe open to any daunger, if the finall end of his endeauour and toile bee not plauſible in his demurring judgement."
- "[Y]our Women of Honour, as you call 'em, are only chary of their reputations, not their Perſons, and 'tis ſcandal they wou'd avoid, not Men: [...]"
- "However, the moſt Solid and Apprehenſive ſort of Men cannot be perſwaded, that thoſe two Monarchs [Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor and Charles II of Spain], being more Chary of their Honour and their Reputation, then the Duke of Savoy [Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia], who ſo ignominouſly abandon'd the Confederates, Innocent XII. will not find that Eaſineſs in them to be wrought upon, which he met with in the King of Cyprus; [...]"
- "Of ſpotleſs fame, be chary as your lives! / Keep wide of proof, and you're the beſt of wives!"
- "I should have been chary of discussing my guardian too freely with her; but I should have gone on with the subject so far as to describe the dinner in Gerrard-street, if we had not then come into a sudden glare of gas."
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈt͡ʃeː.ɹi/
- British English: /ˈt͡ʃɛəɹi/