Tending to hedge one's bets; evasive, cautious, or full of conditional statements rather than clear commitments.
From 'hedge' plus '-y' suffix (making adjectives), likely 19th century, extending the metaphorical sense of 'hedge' from the physical barrier to the conversational tactic.
This word emerged around the time stock markets became mainstream—as financial risk increased, 'hedging' became a key strategy, and soon people applied the term to cautious speech too.
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