as in wary
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Recent Examples of gun-shy
City staff members and officials remain a little gun-shy, Hazeltine said.
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Susan Gill Vardon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 Dec. 2025
The pressure from both the U.S. and China has seemingly made Panama more gun-shy about those ports shifting hands, with numerous officials putting CK Hutchison’s partnership with the Panamanian government under scrutiny.
—Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 13 Aug. 2025
The writers gave The X-Files an award back in 1996 when the overall Academy was gun-shy about voting for it in Outstanding Drama.
—Joe Reid, Vulture, 2 Aug. 2025
Underneath the puns and pumps was a dress-down of the rom-com that ultimately told the story of a woman who fell in love, came out worse, and became gun-shy.
—Mathew Rodriguez, Them., 30 May 2025
Major studios have grown gun-shy about funding anything remotely risky; even a risk well taken can prompt a knee-jerk, scornful reaction from not only the executives but also the press: The film could, even should, have done better.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 25 Apr. 2025
Nintendo has been famously gun-shy of live-action adaptations — or adaptations in general — after the abysmal 1993 Super Mario Bros. film tanked.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 28 Mar. 2025
But that ending has yet to be printed: in a documentary climate in which corporations are growing increasingly gun-shy, The Stringer does not yet have a distributor.
—Steven Zeitchik, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Jan. 2025
Harris dropped out of the 2020 presidential race early (followed later by her fellow female candidates, senators Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren), and some pundits speculated that Democratic primary voters were gun-shy of nominating another woman after Hillary Clinton’s loss in 2016.
—Kathleen Walsh, Glamour, 21 July 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gun-shy
Adjective
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Hamilton, wary of France’s descent into chaos and its aggressive wars, contended that treaties are contracts with specific regimes, not eternal bonds irrespective of change.—
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As measles outbreaks flared up across the US last year, causing a record number of cases, Scott Thorpe kept a wary eye on Spartanburg County, South Carolina.—
Adjective
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In a 2024 business profile in the Naperville Sun, Mowry was leery of the impact construction work downtown would have on business.—
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Consumers should also be leery of online ads, sponsored search results or links posted on social media, the lawmakers warned.—
Adjective
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Be especially cautious in school zones and watch for children and the flashing lights of school buses.—
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Two years as a mental health patient had taught Virginia to be cautious.—
Adjective
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Be careful when handling debris that may have blown into your yard.—
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These soft and chewy treats are the result of dozens of careful recipe tests.—
Adjective
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While Pyongyang has conducted a series of hypersonic tests in recent years, many foreign experts remain skeptical that the weapons have achieved the necessary speed and maneuverability.—
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Braeden Johnson is also skeptical as a taxpayer, but is happy as a Kansas resident to see the team move across the state line.—
Adjective
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Markel became increasingly distrustful of Donna Adelson due to her desire to move the children away from him, even filing a motion to prevent her from having unsupervised visits with the children in 2014.—
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The characters were distrustful of each other (because anybody could be the killer), and one of Warren’s favorite memories is the scene with her and Mull tussling to get out of a tight bar space at the same time.—
Adjective
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Browning butter is simple to do but requires a watchful eye and keen senses.—
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Otherwise, keep a watchful eye on these under the broiler.—
Adjective
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He was signed last summer to a one-year show-me contract worth $900,000 per season.—
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Though there were some reasons for optimism in Kohl’s report on Wednesday—comparable sales were unchanged in July—the Kohl’s saga remains a show-me story.—
Cite this Entry
“Gun-shy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gun-shy. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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