canary

noun · verb · adjective

Simple meaning

Any of different small birds of different countries, most of which are largely yellow in colour.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

kuhnehree

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice

IPA pronunciation (US)

kəˈnɛɹi

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

Any of various small birds of different countries, most of which are largely yellow in colour.
A light, slightly greenish, yellow colour.
countableuncountable
A light, sweet, white wine from the Canary Islands.
A moderate yellow with a greenish tinge
A lively dance, possibly of Spanish origin (also called canaries).
informal
A female singer, soprano, a coloratura singer.

verb

intransitive
To dance nimbly (as in the canary dance).

adjective

Of a light yellow colour.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty: B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency: Moderately Common
Typical Use: Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Any of various small birds of different countries, most of which are largely yellow in colour.

Used this way, canary is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It stays understated rather than dramatic. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone: Neutral
Formality: Neutral
Intensity: Mild
How common: Moderately common
Connotation: Matter-of-fact
Usage feel: Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

canary bird , rarer, so it draws attention

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Various / light

canary birdcanary seedcanary wine

Other combinations

canary yellowcanary wharfcanary grasscanary currentreed canary

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

canary birdnounCompound term
Any of several small Old World finches.
canary creepernounCompound term
A climber having flowers that are the color of canaries.
canary grassnounCompound term
Canary Islands grass.
canary island hare's foot fernnounCompound term
Fern of the Canary Islands and Madeira.
canary islandsnounCompound term
A group of mountainous islands in the Atlantic off the northwest coast of Africa forming Spanish provinces.
canary seednounCompound term
A mixture of seeds used to feed caged birds.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Keep learning “canary” by choosing the kind of practice you need next.

Know the meaning? Practice vocabulary in real situations.

Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.