canny

1 of 2

adjective

can·​ny ˈka-nē How to pronounce canny (audio)
cannier; canniest
1
: clever, shrewd
a canny lawyer
also : prudent
canny investments
2
chiefly Scotland
a
b
: quiet, snug
then canny, in some cozy place, they close the dayRobert Burns
cannily adverb
canniness noun

canny

2 of 2

adverb

Scotland
: in a canny manner : carefully

Examples of canny in a Sentence

Adjective a canny card player, good at psyching out his opponents warm and canny under the woolen bedcovers, we didn't mind the chilly Scottish nights
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
Celebrities, like memoirists, are becoming more and more canny about feeding their personal life directly to the public. Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 13 Mar. 2024 My favorite is about the two best friends who started the La Mancha development company, one of the biggest and canniest of the mini-mall builders. Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 20 Jan. 2024 Yeoh is satisfyingly mercenary and chilling as Ms. Reynolds, toeing the line between canny businesswoman and purveyor of spiritualism in a way that keeps us guessing. Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 9 Sep. 2023 Robot makers of any era would have loved to plug a canny, practical brain into robot bodies. David Berreby, Scientific American, 20 Feb. 2024 Today, Tiffany’s canny promotion of the summer of 1858 is long forgotten. Robert Klara, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 Feb. 2024 But canny management and cooperative financial markets have helped increase plan funding, too. Jeff Sommer, New York Times, 9 Feb. 2024 Fine artist or canny businessman? Known as the Pope of Pop, Warhol (1928-1987) is arguably the most important artist of the second half of the 20th century. Victoria Dalkey, Sacramento Bee, 31 Jan. 2024 Krumholz and Iwasaki’s sincere, and canny, approach to working with a highly engaged patient population is to honor everyone’s experience, no matter how controversial. Rachael Bedard, The New Yorker, 23 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'canny.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

originally Scots & regional northern English, going back to early Scots, "free from risk, sagacious, prudent, cautious," probably from can "ability" (noun derivative of can can entry 1) + -y -y entry 1

First Known Use

Adjective

1596, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adverb

1786, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of canny was in 1596

Dictionary Entries Near canny

Cite this Entry

“Canny.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/canny. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

canny

adjective
can·​ny
ˈkan-ē
cannier; canniest
: watchful of one's own interest
cannily
ˈkan-ᵊl-ē
adverb
canniness
ˈkan-ē-nəs
noun

More from Merriam-Webster on canny

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