dryly
Britishadverb
Explanation
If you say something dryly, you say it in a funny but matter-of-fact way. Your friend's dryly humorous comments might be your favorite thing about watching soap operas with him. People who joke or remark dryly have a straight-faced delivery, even as they are saying the funniest things. You could also describe a black comedy as being dryly funny, or a character in a book as narrating dryly. The adverb dryly comes from dry, which more commonly means "not wet" than "subtly humorous" — although the humor meaning dates from the early 15th century.
Vocabulary lists containing dryly
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.
Nor did he give any sign of being willing to give up any territory in the eastern Donbas region, an issue he described dryly as "difficult".
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
“I need to put out new music,” she said dryly backstage to The Times.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
In a memoir Lardner dryly wrote: “We did not speak. It would have been hard for either of us to pick up the thread.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
Sabalenka's emotions were still raw in an honest post-match news conference which she began by dryly claiming she wanted to quit tennis.
From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026
Naked feet swished dryly across the planks in the wooden floor and the clang ceased abruptly.
From "Native Son" by Richard Wright
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.
