lairy [M19th] Since the late 19th century lairy has been Australian and New Zealand slang for ‘ostentatious, flashy’. British English has adopted this use, to join an earlier, originally Cockney sense ‘cunning or conceited’, as well as the meaning ‘aggressive, rowdy’. The word is a form of leery [L17th], which means ‘cautious or wary’ and is related to leer [M16th] ‘to look at in a lecherous way’, from Old English hleor ‘*cheek’.