dreary
causing sadness or gloom.
dull; boring.
sorrowful; sad.
Origin of dreary
1Other words for dreary
Opposites for dreary
Other words from dreary
- drear·i·ly, adverb
- drear·i·ness, noun
- drear·i·some, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use dreary in a sentence
It’s not all dreary, of course — there are environments where these kids excel.
Carolyn Hax: They ‘really cannot stand’ their rambunctious grandchild | Carolyn Hax | February 2, 2021 | Washington PostIf the grand pooh-bahs of the GOP think they can find someone to push her aside, their pickings seem drearily slim.
The cold grey dawn was drearily lighting up the streets when Mrs Mason and her company returned home.
Ruth | Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell"Most comfortable, and so very clean—quite spotless," the wife answered admiringly, and yet drearily.
You Never Know Your Luck, Complete | Gilbert ParkerA few logs that had been laid on the top of the coal fire sputtered and smoked drearily.
A Charming Fellow, Volume II (of 3) | Frances Eleanor Trollope
The clerk pored over a ledger, and from the gray afternoon the cries of the porters in Covent Garden came drearily in.
Plashers Mead | Compton MackenzieHis look of a bygone awake-in-sleep old look, drearily known to her, was like a strip of sunlight on a fortress wall.
Lord Ormont and his Aminta, Complete | George Meredith
British Dictionary definitions for dreary
/ (ˈdrɪərɪ) /
sad or dull; dismal
wearying; boring
archaic miserable
Origin of dreary
1- Also (literary): drear
Derived forms of dreary
- drearily, adverb
- dreariness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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