18 December 2012

chary

chary

[chair-ee]

adjective, charier, chariest.
1. cautious or careful; wary: He was chary of investing in oil wells.
2. shy; timid.
3. fastidious; choosy: She is excessively chary about her friends.
4. sparing (often followed by of ): chary of his praise.

Related forms

charily, adverb.
unchary, adjective.

Synonyms
1. circumspect. 4. frugal.

Antonyms
1. trustful. 2. confident. 3. uncritical. 4. lavish.

Example sentence:

‘As a materialist, Marx was chary of ideas which were divorced from historical reality, and thought that there were usually good historical reasons for this separation’.

– from ‘Why Marx Was Right‘, by Terry Eagleton.

Today’s aphorism

‘I took a speed-reading course and read War and Peace in 20 minutes. It involves Russia’.

– Woody Allen.

On this day

18 December 1942 – U.S. B24 Liberator bomber crashes into Mt Straloch on Hinchinbrook Island, North Queensland. All 29 persons on board were killed. Because of the rugged terrain and monsoonal ‘wet’ season, the bodies were not recovered for some months. The plane had flown from Amberley air base, near Brisbane, to Garbutt air base in Townsville to pick up passengers. The plane crashed during a violent storm, shortly after departure from Garbutt. It was on its way to Iron Range air base, near Lockhardt River, North Queensland.