Word
canny
Phoneticscan·ny
US/ˈkæni/
UK/kˈæni/
Definitions
02pleasant or nice
adj. pleasant, kind, or attractive.
adj. denoting a person or thing that is pleasant, agreeable, or attractive. This sense is geographically restricted.
“He is a canny lad who is always willing to help his neighbours.”
“The cottage was a canny little place, tucked away in a quiet corner of the village.”
Dialect · British English
Usage
Common in North East England (Tyneside) and parts of Scotland.
Antonyms
03very or quite
adv. used to mean 'very' or 'quite' to make an adjective stronger.
adv. used as an intensifier meaning 'very', 'quite', or 'considerably'.
“It was a canny good film, even though it was quite long.”
“The walk to the next village is canny far, so we should probably leave before it gets dark.”
Dialect · British English
Usage
Used as an intensifier before adjectives.
Real-World Examples
“Brentford have again made a canny foray into the summer transfer market.” “The newly opened establishment bought 450g of beans from the Ethiopian producer, Nigussie Gemeda Mude – and were canny enough to press release it.” Etymology
Northern English dialect, from can (“to know”) ( + -y), from Middle English can, first and third person singular of cunnen, connen (“to be able, know how to”), from Old English cunnan (“to know how to, be able to”). Compare Scots canny, English cunny, Old English cann (“knowledge, assertion”). More at can, cunning.
Back-formation from uncanny.
can (“more or less cylindrical metal container”) + -y
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.