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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
(of cooked food) lacking enough moisture or juice to be satisfying or succulent.
-
(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.
-
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.
-
(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.
-
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.
-
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
-
drynessnoun
-
overdrynessnoun
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redryverb
-
predryverb (used with object)
-
underdryverb (used with object)
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dryableadjective
-
overdryadjective
-
ultradryadjective
-
undryadjective
-
undryableadjective
-
drylyadverb
-
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:
“The river has the capacity to go dry even in scenarios when there are very few diversions or overpumping.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
“To allow such an important tributary to run dry as the salmon are returning is indefensible,” Chichizola said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
Trouble was, he told the match referee he was using the dirt to keep his hands dry.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
The dry stretch is hitting carmakers differently, said Erin Keating, an executive analyst at Cox.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
When the corn was dry enough to crib, we hitched up Siren and Stentor to the wagon and had them in the field by daylight.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
“Sometimes it ends in tears, where the demand dries up and you’ve got a lot of talent that is not deployed.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Dog treats, favourite foods, washes and blow dries at home, endless love and attention.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
Ron spasms under his desk, stifled by the small space; a colleague dries a co-worker’s hair with a piece of paper after blowing bubbles in it; Ron does the loudest meal prep you’ll ever hear.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
As the liquid dries, the suspended particles inside can gather into uneven patterns.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 11, 2026
Then she bathes Ivanito and dries his hair, knowing that she’ll find him unwashed and uncombed again.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
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
It makes us wonder how the drys get from point to point.
From Pieces of Hate And Other Enthusiams by Heywood Broun
By Thursday, we are expecting high pressure to build, so it should be calmer and drier, and by Friday the north-west becomes the focus for any showers.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026
Sork’s lab, along with the Nature Conservancy, is sequencing oak DNA to identify which trees are best built to survive a hotter, drier California.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
Don't pack away your summer clothes just yet as warmer and drier weather could be set to return to the UK next week.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
The Met Office is forecasting the second half of September will see a return to drier conditions, particularly in the south where the rain is needed the most.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
It doesn’t have a unicorn horn, but it’s drier than Feathers’ envirosuit.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
Already before El Nino hit, rivers worldwide were showing "abnormal" flows, WMO said, with 2025 among the three driest years for rivers in 35 years.
From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026
Precipitation was below average, ranking in the driest third on record for both August and for the June-August period, and drought covered nearly 60 percent of the contiguous US by September 1.
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
July’s 6.5 millimeters of rain in England, about 0.25 inches, was the lowest since records began in 1836 and less than half the next driest July—in 1911.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
In other research, scientists found that the last quarter-century has probably been the driest in 1,200 years in Western North America, and that global warming is responsible for about 40% of the drought’s severity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
I stood in the driest spot I could find, clutching Otto and wondering what to do.
From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer
But the boom ended up smaller than anticipated and was followed by a predictable bust when federal stimulus dried up.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
I whisked the eggs and cream with garlic powder, onion powder, dried thyme, oregano, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper, plus a little drizzle of soy sauce.
From Salon ● Sep. 22, 2026
She also recommends keeping dried herbs, spices and salt available as, she says, tinned food can be slightly bland.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
Its signature wine is made of another white grape, Furmint, rich and gold in colour with a dried apricot aroma.
From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026
We carefully ration the biscuits, cheese, and dried figs we have brought for the voyage, hoping they will last us.
From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar
Before engineers could switch on the WFI, the instrument spent 10 days drying out and undergoing decontamination.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 21, 2026
It contained its own complete production line, including a drying turbine -- but wasn't as big as another recently dismantled facility that employed some 50 people.
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
In the Rocky Mountains, years of extreme heat and drought have baked the landscape, drying up streams that feed the Colorado River and desiccating pastures where cattle graze.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026
"Climate change is also impacting the situation as drying soil conditions increases bursts over the summer periods," it added.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
His hair and skin were damp, and he was drying himself with a towel.
From "Pet" by Akwaeke Emezi
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.
