30. The WEARY/LEERY/WARY Query

Hey all of you grammar enthusiasts! Welcome back to another lesson on some problems we hear quite a bit with our language.

Today's topic deals with a problem suggested by two special readers, and one that, I think, will be very easy to clear up. Just hang with me and I'll try to make this short and simple.

Have you ever wondered about the differences between WEARY, LEERY, and WARY? We probably have more confusion between WEARY and WARY, but because WEARY sounds so much like LEERY, sometimes even it gets thrown into this confusing muddle.

Let's begin with WEARY. This word, according to Webster's, is an adjective and means "...exhausted in strength, endurance, vigor, or freshness." Think of it also describing someone's patience, tolerance, or even pleasure being depleted.

Here's an example sentence:

I'm so WEARY of political commercials that I cut the TV off every time one comes on.

Here, WEARY means that the speaker is exhausted from watching so many commercials--his patience, tolerance, and/or pleasure is gone from doing so.

Next, let's move right along to WARY. This word, also an adjective, simply means "...marked by keen caution, cunning, and watchful prudence, especially detecting and escaping danger."

Here's how WARY could be used in an example sentence:

Bobby's cat kept a WARY look at the fox lurking behind the fence.

With this sentence, the implication is that the cat senses danger and is watchful in order to escape from the fox's clutches, if necessary. Pretty easy, so far, huh?

The final word is LEERY (sometimes spelled LEARY, but the former is preferred.) LEERY is another adjective and means "...suspicious, wary." WHOA! Did you notice that? WARY is a synonym (means the same) of LEERY. Now, we see one of the reasons why these three words get confused.

Here's a good way to keep this straight:

WEARY means exhausted or worn-out...while...

both LEERY and WARY mean about the same thing: suspicious or watchful.

Try your hand at these sentences:

1. Mike was (leery, weary) of hearing, "It's so dry around here the trees are bribing the dogs."

2. Kathy became (wary, weary) of the telemarketer when he told her to send a $5,000 check to cover the expense of shipping the big prize she had just won.

3. Ava became (leery, weary) of the meal her mom fixed for her after she saw something green on her plate.


How did you do? These are some simple rules to remember, so I hope you did well.

Here are the answers:

1. WEARY is correct because it means Mike is "tired" or "worn-out" about hearing this so much.

2. WARY is correct because it means Kathy is "suspicious" at hearing about such a large demand of money.

3. LEERY is correct because it means that Ava is "suspicious" since she probably doesn't want anything green on her plate.

Okay, Everyone. Did you make 100 again? See how easy most of these little problems are if you'll just think them through and remember the rules for each?

Well, it's about time to sign off. Thanks for reading this info. again, and have a wonderful week! I love hearing from you with your suggestions for another topic. Peace and happiness, GG