unwary

adjective

un·​wary ˌən-ˈwer-ē 

: not alert : easily fooled or surprised : heedless, gullible

cheats unwary tourists

unwarily

ˌən-ˈwer-ə-lē 

adverb

unwariness

ˌən-ˈwer-ē-nəs 

noun

Synonyms

• aw-shucks
• dewy
• dewy-eyed
• green
• ingenuous
• innocent
• naïf
• naif
• naive
• naïve
• primitive
• simple
• simpleminded
• uncritical
• unknowing
• unsophisticated
• unsuspecting
• unsuspicious
• unworldly
• wide-eyed

Examples of unwary in a Sentence

The fast-moving tide sometimes surprises unwary swimmers.

e-mail scams that take advantage of unwary recipients

Recent Examples on the Web

Employment data bristle with pitfalls for the unwary, even among experienced economists such as Ohanian. —Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 3 Dec. 2024

The result is that fraudsters have rushed into cryptocurrency, exploiting the complexity and hype to dupe the unwary. —Hilary Allen, Foreign Affairs, 5 Apr. 2023

These are unexplainable phenomena scattered throughout the game’s world that can kill an unwary player in an instant. —Issy Van Der Velde, Rolling Stone, 20 Nov. 2024

Some of these bad actors are even setting up fake Hugging Face profiles to pose as Meta or other technology companies to lure downloads from the unwary, according to Swanson. —Iain Martin, Forbes, 22 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1579, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

unwary

adjective

un·​wary ˌən-ˈwa(ə)r-ē 

-ˈwe(ə)r-,

ˈən-

: not alert : easily fooled or surprised : heedless, gullible

the unwary buyer

unwarily

-ˈwar-ə-lē 

-ˈwer-

adverb

unwariness

-ˈwar-ē-nəs 

-ˈwer-

noun