dry
Americanadjective
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free from moisture or excess moisture; not moist; not wet.
a dry towel; dry air.
- Antonyms:
- wet
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having or characterized by little or no rain.
a dry climate; the dry season.
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characterized by absence, deficiency, or failure of natural or ordinary moisture.
-
not under, in, or on water.
It was good to be on dry land.
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not now containing or yielding water or other liquid; depleted or empty of liquid.
The well is dry.
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not yielding milk.
a dry cow.
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free from tears.
dry eyes.
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drained or evaporated away.
a dry river.
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desiring drink; thirsty.
He was so dry he could hardly speak.
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causing thirst.
dry work.
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served or eaten without butter, jam, etc..
dry toast.
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(of cooked food) lacking enough moisture or juice to be satisfying or succulent.
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(of bread and bakery products) stale.
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of or relating to nonliquid substances or commodities.
dry measure; dry provisions.
-
(of wines) not sweet.
-
(of a cocktail)
-
made with dry vermouth.
a dry Manhattan.
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made with relatively little dry vermouth.
a dry martini.
-
-
characterized by or favoring prohibition of the manufacture and sale of alcoholic liquors for use in beverages.
a dry state.
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(of British biscuits) not sweet.
-
plain; bald; unadorned.
dry facts.
-
dull; uninteresting.
a dry subject.
- Antonyms:
- interesting
-
expressed in a straight-faced, matter-of-fact way.
dry humor.
-
indifferent; cold; unemotional.
a dry answer.
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unproductive.
The greatest of artists have dry years.
-
(of lumber) fully seasoned.
-
Building Trades.
-
(of masonry construction) built without fresh mortar or cement.
-
(of a wall, ceiling, etc., in an interior) finished without the use of fresh plaster.
-
-
Ceramics.
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insufficiently glazed.
-
Art. hard and formal in outline, or lacking mellowness and warmth in color.
verb (used with object)
-
dries,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dried,
past participle, past
-
drying
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
dries,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dried,
past participle, past
-
drying
present participle
noun
-
drys,
plural
-
dries
plural
-
a prohibitionist.
-
a dry place, area, or region.
verb phrase
-
dry out
-
to make or become completely dry.
-
to undergo or cause to undergo detoxification from consumption of excessive amounts of alcohol.
-
-
dry up
-
to make or become completely dry.
-
to cease to exist; evaporate.
-
Informal. to stop talking.
-
(in acting) to forget one's lines or part.
-
idioms
adjective
-
lacking moisture; not damp or wet
-
having little or no rainfall
-
not in or under water
dry land
-
having the water drained away or evaporated
a dry river
-
not providing milk
a dry cow
-
(of the eyes) free from tears
-
-
informal in need of a drink; thirsty
-
causing thirst
dry work
-
-
eaten without butter, jam, etc
dry toast
-
(of a wine, cider, etc) not sweet
-
pathol not accompanied by or producing a mucous or watery discharge
a dry cough
-
consisting of solid as opposed to liquid substances or commodities
-
without adornment; plain
dry facts
-
lacking interest or stimulation
a dry book
-
lacking warmth or emotion; cold
a dry greeting
-
(of wit or humour) shrewd and keen in an impersonal, sarcastic, or laconic way
-
opposed to or prohibiting the sale of alcoholic liquor for human consumption
a dry area
-
(of a ewe) without a lamb after the mating season
-
electronics (of a soldered electrical joint) imperfect because the solder has not adhered to the metal, thus reducing conductance
verb
-
to make or become dry or free from moisture
-
(tr) to preserve (meat, vegetables, fruit, etc) by removing the moisture
noun
-
informal a Conservative politician who is considered to be a hard-liner Compare wet
-
informal the dry season
-
an informal word for prohibitionist
Synonym Usage
Dry, arid both mean without moisture. Dry is the general word indicating absence of water or freedom from moisture: a dry well; dry clothes. Arid suggests great or intense dryness in a region or climate, especially such as results in bareness or in barrenness: arid tracts of desert. See evaporate.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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drynessnoun
-
overdrynessnoun
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redryverb
-
predryverb (used with object)
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underdryverb (used with object)
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dryableadjective
-
overdryadjective
-
ultradryadjective
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undryadjective
-
undryableadjective
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drylyadverb
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overdrylyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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drysimple
-
driessimple
-
have driedperfect
-
has driedperfect
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am dryingprogressive
-
are dryingprogressive
-
is dryingprogressive
-
have been dryingperfect progressive
-
has been dryingperfect progressive
Past
-
driedsimple
-
had driedperfect
-
was dryingprogressive
-
were dryingprogressive
-
had been dryingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dry
First recorded before 900; Middle English drie, Old English drȳge; akin to Dutch droog, German trocken; see drought
Explanation
Things that are dry lack moisture. A desert or a dessert can be dry. If your eyes are dry, you’ve stopped crying. It’s also a flavor that means the opposite of sweet. The Sahara Desert and crumbly chocolate cake are both dry. Dry is also a verb — when you paint your kitchen, you have to wait for the first coat to dry before you can add another. If someone says you have a dry sense of humor, they mean that you have a subtle style, keeping a straight face even when you say something outrageous.
Vocabulary lists containing dry
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.
See Examples For:
Hot and dry noodles with seafood, Beijing crêpes filled with satay beef, Sichuan pancakes stuffed with char siu pork.
From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026
As the hot and dry weather continues for much of the UK, drought status could be declared in additional parts of England this week, the EA has suggested.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
It still has Bob’s Big Boy, the last restaurant of a once-large chain known for its chubby mascot, and Milt & Edie’s, a quirky pink-awninged 24-hour tailor and dry cleaner dating to the 1980s.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
It was not known how the fire started, but Bambang said the park was extremely dry as El Nino conditions take root in Indonesia.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
A hot, dry wind blew in from the north, scattering the dirt from the unpaved streets and the railyard, carrying the faint scent of smoke from a distant wildfire.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
But they are packaged into different tranches in order of who will get repaid first if the money dries up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
High pressure causes colder air to sink in the atmosphere, where it compresses, warms up and dries out.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
Researchers at Tokyo Metropolitan University have developed a new way to control how ink dries by adding ultra fine bubbles to ink droplets instead of chemical additives.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 11, 2026
"The sweat dries," she said, watching the blades turn, "but these gusts are hard for an old body to bear."
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
It reminds me of the little fishes Uhmma dries for dinner.
From "A Step from Heaven" by An Na
That really divided Whigs between drys and wets.
From Slate ● Apr. 5, 2017
So who are the other Washington VIPs queuing up for blow drys, yoga, personal training and makeup application in the comfort of their open concept living rooms?
From Washington Post ● Jan. 28, 2015
And while profits from cuts, colouring and blow drys have remained static, in 2012 the salon's hair extension business has grown 60% year on year.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 28, 2012
But she nonetheless tells her very fellow drys that she can secure Nucky’s help in doing away with these neighborhood stashes.
From Salon ● Oct. 18, 2010
As the river of that name that runs away from itself when it rains and drys up when it is clear, is so uncertain, the name Allegheny does not appeal to the masses.
From Watch Yourself Go By by Warden, Ben W.
It usually causes drier conditions in Southeast Asia and India.
From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026
"Our hormones affect our skin, they affect our collagen, so a lot of people find their skin becomes drier, their complexion not so bright, they might have acne and spots," Newson explains.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
Every time we burn fossil fuels, it adds more chemicals to the atmosphere that trap more heat, creating a positive feedback loop that makes everything hotter and drier.
From Salon ● Aug. 3, 2026
While forecasts point to rain around the Mediterranean, other regions can expect “severely drier than average conditions” until September, it said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
The first Bantu pioneers probably were few in number, selected wet-forest areas suitable for their yam agriculture, and leapfrogged over drier areas, which they left to Khoisan herders and hunter-gatherers.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
“Of all the dams I have built and of all the dams I have ever seen, it was the driest dam of its size I ever saw in my life.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
England and Wales both experienced the "driest July on record", the UK Met Office weather agency said Monday, based on provisional figures.
From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026
In the southern part of England, July was the driest month ever recorded, dating back to 1836, with just 1.9 mm of rainfall, or three percent of the average figure, the Met Office said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026
The UK as a whole is currently on track for its third driest July, and driest nationally since 1868.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
The Akkersons were the driest couple in town.
From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool
Later, repeated heat waves and a period of drought dried out that vegetation, turning it into abundant fuel.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026
It's not as complicated as assessing whether a footballer has dived – this is a cut and dried thing that anybody can enter a debate into.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
Since June, heat waves have strained infrastructure and dried out swaths of land.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Tourism in the region has dried up, and investment is under pressure.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Their supplies were getting low, too: one waterskin and only enough dried salmon and deer meat for a couple of days.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
Some polygonal formations previously examined by Curiosity clearly began as cracks in drying mud.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 1, 2026
“Our fuels have been drying out over time and are at pretty much critical levels right now,” she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
In a standard triple-wash system, cut lettuce moves through a series of flumes filled with treated water before spin drying.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
France has been battered by three heatwaves since May as part of increasingly common extreme weather episodes linked to climate change, causing excess deaths, drying up rivers and fuelling wildfires.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
He and Anh had hurried to the studio at lunch the next day to check how their prints had turned out after drying.
From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai
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.
