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.

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

"Larijani is a true insider, a canny operator, familiar with how the system operates and familiar with the supreme leader's inclinations."

From Barron's • Feb. 25, 2026

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

From BBC • Feb. 12, 2026

It marks a bizarre and spectacular union of the interests of Sir Lord Jimmy, who is so Satanic that he wears an upside-down cross, and the canny Dr. Kelson.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 15, 2026

But he was strong, and canny with his pennies: somehow he saved up enough for a cow — Our Cow. not six years old, and strong enough to plow.

From "Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village" by Laura Amy Schlitz