Have you ever been wary or weary?
Although the spelling and pronunciation of the two words are similar, they are two completely different words.
Wary (adj): feeling or showing caution
Weary (adj): feeling or showing fatigue
Weary also can be a verb meaning “to cause to become fatigued, tired of, or bored with.”
Wary
Visually, here is what a wary cat would look like. This cat is being cautious of the cameraman in front of it. It is hissing and has an arched back, possibly ready to pounce. The cat is being careful because it thinks the cameraman may be a threat or danger.
Weary
Here is what being weary would look like. The dog here looks both tired and bored while it rests its head on the table.
Example sentences
Wary
Jimothy was wary of the neighbor’s dog which would always bark at him when he passed by.
In the example above, the subject Jimothy is cautious of his neighbor’s dog whose bark probably frightens him when he passes by.
Pamela told her young daughter to be wary of strangers.
In this sentence, Pamela tells her daughter to be careful of strangers because strangers can be a potential danger.
Kevyn felt wary of the menacing glares from his coworkers after he got the promotion.
Here, Kevyn feels cautious because of the fierce threatening looks that he is getting from his jealous coworkers after he got promoted.
Weary
Oskar was weary waiting for Angelica to get ready.
In the above sentence, the subject Oskar is tired of waiting for Angelica who is taking too long getting ready.
Stan gave out a weary sigh during the first five minutes of the meeting.
In this example, Stan lets out a fatigued sigh at the beginning of a meeting, implying he was already in an exhausted state or he did not want to be in that meeting.
Phillis always wearies Drew with her boring clichés and sayings that she thinks are clever.
This is the only example in which weary is used as a verb. Phillis tires Drew out and/or bores him with clichés and sayings that she thinks are smart.
Practice questions
- Dwyght was wary/weary from working two jobs and not getting enough sleep.
- Mike was wary/weary of Tobi who he suspected was the local criminal on the loose.
- Janice was cold, hungry, and wary/weary, but that didn’t stop her from persisting and finishing the marathon.
- O’Kelley, who had been out drinking last night, finally dragged her wary/weary body out of bed.
- Hollie was wary/weary of the long lecture and wished it was over soon.
- Caryn started to be wary/weary of men after her last boyfriend cheated on her.
- Bryan and wary/weary and exhausted from correcting people who got his name wrong.
- The owl fluffed itself up when it saw the other male owl in its territory, warily/wearily gazing at its foe.
- The wary/weary traveler took a careful step on the old bridge that looked like it would collapse at any moment.
- Darren was wary/weary and suspicious of phone calls because he had gotten scammed recently.
Answers to practice questions:
- weary
- wary
- weary
- weary
- weary
- wary
- weary
- warily
- wary
- wary
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