drear
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of drear
First recorded in 1620–30; back formation from dreary
Vocabulary lists containing drear
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.
The day is drear, the music ominous — and with good reason.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
It’s like Britain’s last kitchen-sink movie, a film that focuses on pure domestic drear.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 22, 2020
In the gusty drear of the morning and then the breezy sunshine of midday amid the rude crosswinds near the Irish Sea, they shot their 65s.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 20, 2017
Hope’s mother brought up seven boys in drear, impoverished conditions.
From The New Yorker ● Nov. 10, 2014
A wind that had sprung up in the night was blowing now keenly from the North, and it was rising; but the lands about looked grey and drear.
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
