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.
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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.
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(of wines) not sweet.
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(of a cocktail)
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made with dry vermouth.
a dry Manhattan.
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made with relatively little dry vermouth.
a dry martini.
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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.
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plain; bald; unadorned.
dry facts.
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dull; uninteresting.
a dry subject.
- Antonyms:
- interesting
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expressed in a straight-faced, matter-of-fact way.
dry humor.
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indifferent; cold; unemotional.
a dry answer.
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unproductive.
The greatest of artists have dry years.
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(of lumber) fully seasoned.
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Building Trades.
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(of masonry construction) built without fresh mortar or cement.
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(of a wall, ceiling, etc., in an interior) finished without the use of fresh plaster.
-
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Ceramics.
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insufficiently glazed.
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Art. hard and formal in outline, or lacking mellowness and warmth in color.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
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a prohibitionist.
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a dry place, area, or region.
verb phrase
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dry out
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to make or become completely dry.
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to undergo or cause to undergo detoxification from consumption of excessive amounts of alcohol.
-
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dry up
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to make or become completely dry.
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to cease to exist; evaporate.
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Informal. to stop talking.
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(in acting) to forget one's lines or part.
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idioms
adjective
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lacking moisture; not damp or wet
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having little or no rainfall
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not in or under water
dry land
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having the water drained away or evaporated
a dry river
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not providing milk
a dry cow
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(of the eyes) free from tears
-
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informal in need of a drink; thirsty
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causing thirst
dry work
-
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eaten without butter, jam, etc
dry toast
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(of a wine, cider, etc) not sweet
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pathol not accompanied by or producing a mucous or watery discharge
a dry cough
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consisting of solid as opposed to liquid substances or commodities
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without adornment; plain
dry facts
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lacking interest or stimulation
a dry book
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lacking warmth or emotion; cold
a dry greeting
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(of wit or humour) shrewd and keen in an impersonal, sarcastic, or laconic way
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opposed to or prohibiting the sale of alcoholic liquor for human consumption
a dry area
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(of a ewe) without a lamb after the mating season
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electronics (of a soldered electrical joint) imperfect because the solder has not adhered to the metal, thus reducing conductance
verb
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to make or become dry or free from moisture
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(tr) to preserve (meat, vegetables, fruit, etc) by removing the moisture
noun
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informal a Conservative politician who is considered to be a hard-liner Compare wet
-
informal the dry season
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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
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overdrynessnoun
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redryverb
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predryverb (used with object)
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underdryverb (used with object)
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dryableadjective
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overdryadjective
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ultradryadjective
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undryadjective
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undryableadjective
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drylyadverb
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overdrylyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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drysimple
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driessimple
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have driedperfect
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has driedperfect
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am dryingprogressive
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are dryingprogressive
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is dryingprogressive
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have been dryingperfect progressive
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has been dryingperfect progressive
Past
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driedsimple
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had driedperfect
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was dryingprogressive
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were dryingprogressive
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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:
Elsewhere, peak viewing hours will be dry and clear.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
Most are in northern Ontario and Quebec, where it has been hot and dry, as well as the Northwest Territories, which is experiencing a drought and received less than 40% of normal precipitation in June.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Canada and Minnesota are ablaze in the scorching, dry heat.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
Hidden Valley saw a 7% bump in monthly sales of its own travel-friendly dry seasoning, dressing and recipe mix.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 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
As the liquid dries, the suspended particles inside can gather into uneven patterns.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 11, 2026
In many parts of the island, the soil’s high clay content causes deep fractures to form as it dries.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
"We work in staggered timing... doing our work in early mornings and after sunset," said 42-year-old Babulal Narayan, who rakes the salt as brine water dries in shallow pools.
From Barron's ● May 10, 2026
The toilet also features a rotating heating element that evaporates urine and dries other waste.
From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2026
When the rains stop, the land dries to dust and the sun burns very, very hot.
From "Lost Boy, Lost Girl" by John Bul Dau
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 Broun, Heywood
This will keep things drier, although not necessarily completely so.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
Climate change is expected to bring more severe winter rainfall and flooding in the UK, but hotter and drier summers are projected to bring more severe droughts in the future.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
Conversely, El Niño typically brings drier conditions to the Pacific Northwest, as well as Central America, northern South America, the Caribbean, Australia, Indonesia, and parts of southern Asia, experts said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
El Ninos typically have knock-on effects globally, including drier conditions and drought in Australia, along with wetter winters in East Africa and the southern United States.
From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026
Eric and the boy I thought was named Ben gathered broken branches of driftwood from the drier piles against the forest edge, and soon had a teepee-shaped construction built atop the old cinders.
From "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer
Laura Dern, who played Dr. Ellie Sattler opposite Neill’s Dr. Alan Grant in Steven Spielberg’s “Jurassic Park,” wrote, Neill “showed me the depths of loyalty, protectiveness and love always with the driest of wit.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
India has recorded its driest June in 12 years, and the fifth-driest since nationwide rainfall records began in 1901, according to the country's weather department.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
Chemical research sounds like the driest of these subjects, but Mr. Baerwald develops it to fascinating effect.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
“Why do we need a nine gigawatt data center in one of the driest states in the nation that’s in a severe drought,” Caroline Gleich, an environmentalist and professional skier, asked.
From Salon ● Jun. 12, 2026
Turning down the lane, the jockey weaved back and forth, sweeping his flashlight beam from side to side, hunting for the driest, hardest path.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
Part of it has to do with the simultaneous leaps in quality, availability and marketing of certain shelf-stable standards: good tinned fish, squeeze-bottle olive oil, dried beans with their very own fan clubs.
From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026
“That creates its own hazard of, potentially, lightning without the rain that could put out any fire starts,” he said, adding that a warming trend has dried plants and soils.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
The weekly, sometimes daily, diet of Reform news conferences at Westminster had dried up.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
Four years ago, a major drought dried up pastures and water supplies, forcing ranchers to sell their livestock.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
Too late, he remembered the neat bundles of dried deer meat, forgotten at the shelter.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
The source of the Colorado River in the Rocky Mountains is drying up, threatening a critical water lifeline for about 35 million people and 5 million acres of farmland across the Southwest.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
Within the United States, El Nino events are typically "drought-busting" over some regions including California but drying in others.
From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026
The researchers focused on the species Armadillo sordidus, a little studied isopod that typically spends its time hidden beneath rocks and damp leaf litter, where moisture helps prevent it from drying out.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 6, 2026
Supplies of smaller memory processors, like solid-state drives, are drying up on the market, fueling a crunch that’s hitting smartphones and laptops of all brands.
From Slate ● Jul. 2, 2026
The summer heat was drying out the land, and beyond us stretched empty fields turning from green to golden.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
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.
