adjective
cagey
KAY-jee/ˈkeɪdʒi/
Careful about revealing information or intentions.
The cagey interviewee answers with a guarded smile and a noncommittal shrug.
Etymology
The evasive, reticent sense is recorded in American colloquial use. An earlier dialect sense was “sportive,” but the source provides no connection between the two.
In context
why are people so cagey about it right if it's such a simple explanation it was flares if it was it was a weather balloon if it's such a simple information why are documents classified
More examples
- The negotiator remained cagey about the proposed price.
- His cagey smile suggested that he knew more than he said.
- They were cagey when asked who had funded the project.
Forms
cagey · cagier · cagiest
Similar words
- secretive
- Generally inclined to conceal things, while cagey suggests calculated caution.