Word.ws English Dictionary

canniest

canniest is the superlative form of canny.

Meaning of canny

Adjective (1)

canny (comparative cannier, superlative canniest)

  1. Careful, prudent, cautious.
    • The politician gave a canny response to the reporter’s questions.
  2. Knowing, shrewd, astute.
    • The canny lawyer knew just how to get what he wanted.
  3. Frugal, thrifty.
    • canny investments
  4. (Northumbria, Scotland) Friendly, pleasant, fair, agreeable; (sometimes) funny.
    • She’s a canny lass hor like!
  5. (Northumbria, Scotland) Gentle, quiet, steady.
    • a canny horse

Adjective (2)

canny (comparative cannier, superlative canniest)

  1. (proscribed) Natural, normal.
    • I should have been glad to be assured that she prayed when on her knees, or read when that book was before her; I should have felt that she was more canny and human.1865, Sheridan Le Fanu, Uncle Silas

See all 10 meanings of canny

Questions about canniest

What is canniest the superlative form of?
Canniest is the superlative form of canny.

Words near canniest in the dictionary

  1. cannibalizing
  2. cannibally
  3. cannibals
  4. Cannie
  5. cannier
  6. canniest
  7. Canniff
  8. Canniffs
  9. canniflavone
  10. cannikin
  11. cannikins

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: canniest (page history and authors); canny (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “canniest.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/canniest. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.