be wary of (doing) something• Congressis wary of becoming too dependent on foreignoil.• He was wary of it, thinking it might be living, but he saw it was just another machine.• W01111n, like birds, have learned to be wary of men; they pass the wariness on, genetically.• It was broken, and we should be wary of returning to such a rigid system.• I longed to ask questions but was wary ofrevealing my completelack of local knowledge.• The Chancellor should be wary of the argument that the deficit does not matter because it is in the privatesector.• One also needs to be wary of the inequalities that market mechanisms bring in their wake.• Other parishionerswere wary ofunleashing political passions in the parish.
Originwary
(1400-1500)ware“careful”((11-20 centuries)), from Old Englishwær