Definitions for dreary
ˈdrɪər idrea·ry

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:3.0 / 2 votes

1. drab, drearyadjective

   lacking in liveliness or charm or surprise

   "her drab personality"; "life was drab compared with the more exciting life style overseas"; "a series of dreary dinner parties"

2. blue, dark, dingy, disconsolate, dismal, gloomy, grim, sorry, drab, drear, drearyadjective

   causing dejection

   "a blue day"; "the dark days of the war"; "a week of rainy depressing weather"; "a disconsolate winter landscape"; "the first dismal dispiriting days of November"; "a dark gloomy day"; "grim rainy weather"

WiktionaryRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. drearyadjective

   Grievous, dire; appalling.

2. drearyadjective

   Drab; dark, colorless, or cheerless.

3. Etymology: From drery, from dreorig, from dreuzagaz, from dʰreus-. Cognate with treurig, traurig, dreyrigr. Related to dreor, drysmian.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. DREARYadjective

   Etymology: dreorig, Saxon.

   1. Sorrowful; distressful.

   The messenger of death, the ghastly owl,
   With dreary shrieks did also yell;
   And hungry wolves continually did howl
   At her abhorred face, so horrid and so foul. Fairy Queen.

   2. Gloomy; dismal; horrid.

   Obscure they went through dreary shades, that led
   Along the vast dominions of the dead. John Dryden, Æn. 6.

   Towns, forests, herds and men promiscuous drown’d,
   With one great death deform the dreary ground. Matthew Prior.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. dreary

   Dreary is an adjective used to describe something that is dull, bleak, lifeless, or depressing. It can refer to anything like weather, a place, a task, or a period of time that lacks brightness, interest or enthusiasm and may somehow cause sadness, boredom or discomfort.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:3.5 / 2 votes

1. Dreary

   sorrowful; distressful

2. Dreary

   exciting cheerless sensations, feelings, or associations; comfortless; dismal; gloomy

3. Etymology: [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. drerig, sad; akin to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dresan to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle, Drowse.]

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

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Anagrams for dreary »

1. yarder

How to pronounce dreary?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say dreary in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of dreary in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of dreary in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8

Examples of dreary in a Sentence

1. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:

   Into each life some rain must fall, some days be dark and dreary.

2. W. Somerset Maugham:

   Death is a very dull, dreary affair, and my advice to you is to have nothing whatsoever to do with it.

3. Robert Louis Stephenson:

   If your morals make you dreary, depend on it , they are wrong.

4. Percy Bysshe Shelley:

   Rough wind, that moanest loudGrief too sad for songWild wind, when sullen cloudKnells all the night longSad storm, whose tears are vain,Bare woods, whose branches strain,Deep caves and dreary main, - Wail, for the world's wrong

5. Longfellow:

   Be still sad heart and cease repining; Behind the clouds the sun is shining, Thy fate is the common fate of all, Into each life a little rain must fall, Some days must be dark and dreary.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=dreary
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Dreary
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=dreary
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dreary
6. ^ Usage in printed sources
   https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=dreary