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wry - 7 dictionary results

wry

  [rahy]
Use wry in a Sentence
–adjective, wri⋅er, wri⋅est.
1. produced by a distortion or lopsidedness of the facial features: a wry grin.
2. abnormally bent or turned to one side; twisted; crooked: a wry mouth.
3. devious in course or purpose; misdirected.
4. contrary; perverse.
5. distorted or perverted, as in meaning.
6. bitterly or disdainfully ironic or amusing: a wry remark.
Origin:
1515–25; adj. use of wry to twist, ME wryen, OE wrīgian to go, strive, tend, swerve; c. D wrijgen to twist; akin to OE wrigels, L rīcula veil, Gk rhoikós crooked

Related forms:
wryly, adverb
wryness, noun

Synonyms:
2. awry, askew.

Antonyms:
2. straight.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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wry   (rī)   
adj.   wri·er (rī'ər) or wry·er, wri·est (rī'ĭst) or wry·est
  1. Dryly humorous, often with a touch of irony.
  2. Temporarily twisted in an expression of distaste or displeasure: made a wry face.
  3. Abnormally twisted or bent to one side; crooked: a wry nose.
  4. Being at variance with what is right, proper, or suitable; perverse.

[From Middle English wrien, to turn, from Old English wrīgian; see wer-2 in Indo-European roots.]
wry'ly adv., wry'ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Wry

Wry\, v. t. [AS. wre['o]n.] To cover. [Obs.]

Wrie you in that mantle. --Chaucer.

Wry

Wry\, a. [Compar. Wrier; superl. Wriest.] [Akin to OE. wrien to twist, to bend, AS. wrigian to tend towards, to drive.]

1. Turned to one side; twisted; distorted; as, a wry mouth.

2. Hence, deviating from the right direction; misdirected; out of place; as, wry words.

Not according to the wry rigor of our neighbors, who never take up an old idea without some extravagance in its application. --Landor.

3. Wrested; perverted.

He . . . puts a wry sense upon Protestant writers. --Atterbury.

Wry face, a distortion of the countenance indicating impatience, disgust, or discomfort; a grimace.

Wry

Wry\, v. i. 1. To twist; to writhe; to bend or wind.

2. To deviate from the right way; to go away or astray; to turn side; to swerve.

This Phebus gan awayward for to wryen. --Chaucer.

How many Must murder wives much better than themselves For wrying but a little! --Shak.

Wry

Wry\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wried; p. pr. & vb. n. Wrying.] [OE. wrien. See Wry, a.] To twist; to distort; to writhe; to wrest; to vex. --Sir P. Sidney.

Guests by hundreds, not one caring If the dear host's neck were wried. --R. Browning.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : wry
Spanish: irónico,
German: schief,
Japanese: 皮肉な
More Translations »

wry  (adj.)
1523, "distorted, somewhat twisted," from obs. verb wry "to contort, to twist or turn," from O.E. wrigian "to turn, bend, move, go," from P.Gmc. *wrig- (cf. O.Fris. wrigia "to bend," M.L.G. wrich "turned, twisted"), from PIE *wreik- "to turn" (cf. Gk. rhoikos "crooked," Lith. raisas "paralysed"), from base *wer- "to turn, bend" (see versus). Of words, thoughts, etc., from 1599. The original sense is in awry.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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