canny

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Griffin even made for himself an industry town called Frostproof—a canny, if defiant, advertising play, named years prior, after the town had survived the mythic 1895 freeze without much issue.

From Slate • Apr. 20, 2026

It’s a candid and canny strategy to include in his book such a bracing reminder that the world may need art, but it doesn’t owe artists a living.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

He’s understood in Ireland as a canny political operator who led his boring center-right party, Fianna Fáil, back to power after a decade in the wilderness.

From Salon • Mar. 18, 2026

But they had a coffee and chatted and he seemed "nice, quite canny".

From BBC • Feb. 12, 2026

He waited, canny enough not to commit himself until his wife had agreed to follow suit.

From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick