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

(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdɹɪɹi/
(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdɹɪəɹi/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ɪəɹi, -ɪɹi

Adjective

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

Drab; dark, colorless, or cheerless.
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.
(obsolete) Grievous, dire; appalling.

Derived terms

drear
drearihead
drearihood
drearily
dreariment
dreariness
drearisome

Translations

drab

Bulgarian: тъжен (bg) (tǎžen), мрачен (bg) (mračen)
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, 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, mākihakiha
Middle English: drery, dregh
Norwegian:
Bokmål: dyster (no)
Nynorsk: dyster
Old English: wynleas
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: dyster (sv)

Anagrams

Ardrey, Drayer, yarder, yarred