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The word for today is…
chary (adjective):
1: discreetly cautious: such as
a: hesitant and vigilant about dangers and risks
b: slow to grant, accept, or expend
2 archaic : dear, treasured
Source : Merriam -Webster
Etymology : Chary’s Middle English predecessor, charri, meant “sorrowful,” a sense that harks back to the Old English word cearig, meaning “troubled, troublesome, taking care,” which ultimately comes from an assumed-but-unattested Germanic word, karō, meaning “sorrow” or “worry,” that is also an ancestor of the word care. It’s perhaps unsurprising then, that chary was once used to mean “dear” or “cherished.” Both sorrow and affection have largely faded from chary, and today the word is most often used as a synonym of careful.
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