dreary
[ dreer-ee ]
/ ˈdrɪər i /
Save This Word!
adjective, drear·i·er, drear·i·est.
causing sadness or gloom.
dull; boring.
sorrowful; sad.
SYNONYMS FOR dreary
QUIZZES
QUIZ YOURSELF ON THE MANY TYPES OF NOUNS
They're everywhere you turn, but can you identify the 10 types of nouns easily? This quiz will test your mettle against singular, plural, concrete, abstract, common, proper, collective, compound, countable, and uncountable nouns!
Question 1 of 7
Shoelaces, rainbow, toothpaste, and haircuts are all what type of noun?
Meet Grammar Coach
Improve Your Writing
Origin of dreary
before 900; Middle English drery,Old English drēorig gory, cruel, sad, equivalent to drēor gore + -ig-y1; akin to Old Norse dreyrigr bloody, German traurig sad
OTHER WORDS FROM dreary
drear·i·ly, adverbdrear·i·ness, noundrear·i·some, adjectiveDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for dreary
British Dictionary definitions for dreary
dreary
/ (ˈdrɪərɪ) /
adjective drearier or dreariest
sad or dull; dismal
wearying; boring
archaic miserable
Also (literary): drear
Derived forms of dreary
drearily, adverbdreariness, nounWord Origin for dreary
Old English drēorig gory; related to Old High German trūreg sad
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