verb
-
to discern or make out; catch sight of
-
to discover by looking carefully; detect
Other Word Forms
- descrier noun
- undescried adjective
- undescrying adjective
Etymology
Origin of descry
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English descrien, from Old French de(s)crïer “to proclaim, decry”; dis- 1, cry
Explanation
If you spot something, you descry it. When you spy it, you descry it. It's a good verb to use when you catch a glimpse of a rare bird in the trees. Or when you finally spot Waldo in a Where's Waldo? book. Descry is very similar to "see" or "discern," but involves more than just keeping your eyes open. Usually you descry something after observing carefully for a while. Wrote Ovid, the Ancient Roman poet and author: “Time on time revolving we descry, so moments flit, so moments fly.” Apparently, even in antiquity people complained about seeing the time go by too quickly.
Vocabulary lists containing descry
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Othello
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In ancient Egypt, seekers after spiritual guidance could spend a night in incubation, which was a special institutionalised sleep undertaken in the temples of the gods precisely in order to descry meaning in the dark.
From The Guardian • Dec. 15, 2018
What yonder twinkling azure orb do I descry?
From Washington Post • Apr. 29, 2015
Still, there are trends and changes to descry: To the usual surprising degree, great minds are thinking alike, small ones running in the same gutter.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 13, 2011
Was the distribution of shot times entirely random, or were there any local or global patterns to descry: longies with longies, middies alternating with shorties, etc.?
From New York Times • Mar. 1, 2010
“I cannot descry all of your marks,” I explained.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
