Nearby Words

dreary

[dreer-ee] Example Sentences Origin

drear·y

[dreer-ee]
adjective, drear·i·er, drear·i·est.
1.
causing sadness or gloom.
2.
dull; boring.
3.
sorrowful; sad.

Origin:
before 900; Middle English drery, Old English drēorig gory, cruel, sad, equivalent to drēor gore + -ig -y1; akin to Old Norse dreyrigr bloody, German traurig sad

drear·i·ly, adverb
drear·i·ness, noun
drear·i·some, adjective


1. gloomy, dismal, drear, cheerless, depressing, comfortless. 2. tedious, monotonous, wearisome, tiresome.


1. cheerful. 2. interesting.

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Dreary is always a great word to know.
So is callithumpian. Does it mean:
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
Example Sentences
  • This man was doing nothing more than trying to brighten our dreary little worlds, after all.
  • Thank you for helping me start my dreary work day with a hearty laugh.
  • Most modern life is dreary, with an awful lot of routine drudgery.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
dreary (ˈdrɪərɪ)
 
adj , drearier, dreariest
1.  sad or dull; dismal
2.  wearying; boring
3.  archaic miserable
 
[Old English drēorig gory; related to Old High German trūreg sad]
 
'drearily
 
adv
 
'dreariness
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

dreary
O.E. dreorig "sorrowful," originally "cruel, bloody," from dreor "gore, blood," from (ge)dreosan (pp. droren) "fall, decline, fail," from W.Gmc. *dreuzas (cf. O.N. dreyrigr "gory, bloody," and more remotely, Ger. traurig "sad, sorrowful"). The word has lost its original sense of "dripping blood." Sense
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of "dismal, gloomy" first recorded 1667 in "Paradise Lost," but O.E. had a related verb drysmian "become gloomy."
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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