dreary

English

Etymology

From Middle English drery, from Old English drēoriġ (“sad”), from Proto-Germanic *dreuzagaz (“bloody”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrews- (“to break, break off, crumble”), equivalent to drear +‎ -y. Cognate with Dutch treurig (“sad, gloomy”), Low German trurig (“sad”), German traurig (“sad, sorrowful, mournful”), Old Norse dreyrigr (“bloody”). Related to Old English drēor (“blood, falling blood”), Old English drysmian (“to become gloomy”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈdɹɪəɹi/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General American, mirror–nearer merger) IPA^(key): /ˈdɹɪɹi/

  • Audio (US, mirror–nearer merger):

    (file)

• (US, without the mirror–nearer merger) IPA^(key): /ˈdɹɪɚi/, /ˈdɹiɹi/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˈdɹiɹɪ/, /ˈdɹiɹe/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈdɹiəɹi/
• (East Anglia, cheer–chair merger) IPA^(key): /ˈdɹɛːɹi/
• Rhymes: -ɪəɹi

Adjective

dreary (comparative drearier or more dreary, superlative dreariest or most dreary)

1. Drab; dark, colorless, or cheerless.

   Synonyms: bleak, gloomy; see also Thesaurus:cheerless, Thesaurus:dim

   It had rained for three days straight, and the dreary weather dragged the townspeople's spirits down.

   Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary...

   • 1818, Mary Shelley, chapter V, in Frankenstein, volume 1:

     It was on a dreary night of November, that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils.

2. (obsolete) Grievous, dire; appalling.

Derived terms

• drear
• drearihead
• drearihood
• drearily
• dreariment
• dreariness
• drearisome

Translations

drab

• Bulgarian: тъжен (bg) (tǎžen), мрачен (bg) (mračen)
• Czech: šedivý (cs), pochmurný (cs), chmurný, ponurý (cs), depresivní
• Dutch: bleek (nl), lusteloos (nl)
• Esperanto: malgaja
• Finnish: ankea (fi), surkea (fi)
• French: terne (fr) m or f, insipide (fr) m or f, maussade (fr) m or f
• German: öde (de), trostlos (de), trüb (de), freudlos (de)
• Hungarian: komor (hu), rideg (hu), borús (hu), borongós (hu), bús (hu), búskomor (hu), bánatos (hu), búbánatos (hu), barátságtalan (hu), örömtelen (hu), (scenery) sivár (hu), kietlen (hu), kopár (hu)
• Icelandic: drungalegur (is)
• Irish: dearóil
• Italian: melanconico m, malinconico (it) m
• Japanese: 荒涼とした (kouryoutoshita), わびしい (ja) (wabishii)
• Maori: takeo
• Middle English: drery, dregh
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: dyster (no)

  Nynorsk: dyster

• Old English: wynleas
• Ottoman Turkish: آجی (acı) (of sounds)
• Portuguese: melancólico (pt)
• Romanian: tern (ro), insipid (ro), mosad, trist (ro), melancolic (ro)
• Russian: мра́чный (ru) (mráčnyj), тоскли́вый (ru) (tosklívyj), печа́льный (ru) (pečálʹnyj), гру́стный (ru) (grústnyj), безотра́дный (ru) (bezotrádnyj), му́торный (ru) (mútornyj)
• Spanish: aburrido (es), triste (es)
• Swedish: trist (sv), dyster (sv)

Anagrams

• Ardrey, Drayer, yarder, yarred, errday