canny adj : showing self-interest and shrewdness in dealing with others; "a cagey lawyer"; "too clever to be sound" [syn: cagey, cagy, clever] [also: canniest, cannier]

English

Etymology

Northern English dialect and canny.

Pronunciation

• /ˈkæni/

  Rhymes with: -æni

Adjective

1. Careful, prudent, cautious.
2. Knowing, shrewd, astute.
3. Frugal, thrifty.
4. Pleasant, nice.

   She's a canny lass hor like!

5. very or much.

   That's a canny big horse man!

Derived terms

• cannily
• canniness

References

New Geordie Dictionary 1987}}

Scots

Alternative spellings

• cannei

Adjective

1. [[careful With Supernatural or occult powers.

Canny may refer to

• In computer vision, Canny may refer to the Canny edge detector described by John F. Canny.

• The word Canny can also have the following meanings
  • shrewd, cagey or clever, see Intelligence (trait)
  • nice, good or fine in some British English dialects. please see Mackem or Geordie

Byzantine, Machiavellian, Machiavellic, Scotch, acute, adroit, arch, artful, astute, cagey, calculating, careful, cautious, chary, cheeseparing, circumspect, clever, conserving, crafty, cunning, cute, deceitful, deep, deep-laid, deliberate, designing, devious, dexterous, diplomatic, discreet, economic, economical, economizing, feline, forehanded, foxy, frugal, gingerly, guarded, guileful, heedful, hep, hesitant, ingenious, insidious, inventive, judicious, knowing, labor-saving, leaving out nothing, mindful, money-saving, nimble-witted, noncommittal, on guard, overlooking no possibility, parsimonious, pawky, penny-wise, politic, provident, prudent, prudential, quick, quick-witted, ready, regardful, resourceful, safe, saving, scheming, scrimping, serpentine, sharp, sharp-witted, shifty, shrewd, skimping, slick, slim, slippery, slow to act, sly, smart, smooth, snaky, sneaky, sophistical, spare, sparing, stealthy, strategic, subtile, subtle, supple, tactical, tentative, thorough, thrifty, time-saving, trickish, tricksy, tricky, unadventurous, uncommunicative, undaring, unenterprising, unprecipitate, unwasteful, vulpine, wary, wily