dry-as-dust
adjective
dull and boring.
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dry-as-dust
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dry as dust
dry as dustDull, boring, as in This text is dry as dust; it's putting me to sleep. [c. 1500]
dry-as-dust
American
[drahy-uhz-duhst]
/ ˈdraɪ əzˈdʌst /
Or
dryasdust
adjective
dry as dust
Idioms
Etymology
Origin of dry-as-dust
1870–75; after Dr. Dryasdust, a fictitious pedant satirized in the prefaces of Sir Walter Scott's novels
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.
Yesterday, the decision emerged in a dry-as-dust news release at the dog end of the political day.
From BBC • Dec. 8, 2022
Even that old windbag Polonius, played by Robert Joy, is less a bombastic grandstander than a dry-as-dust martinet.
From New York Times • Jan. 23, 2018
Using historical narrative to illuminate a broad-scope, international principle is a welcome change from dry-as-dust writing about such topics.
From Washington Post • Jul. 22, 2016
"I don't know if it's because your bus is too comfortable or the weather isn't to your liking," said the dry-as-dust Pescheux, "but, Team Sky, your riders didn't sign on this morning."
From The Guardian • Jul. 24, 2010
What food for his wild imagination could he find in the prosy records and dry-as-dust documents of a lawyer’s office?
From George Borrow in East Anglia by Dutt, William A. (William Alfred)
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.
