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.
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
“I would say that the family dynamics were pretty evident on set,” said Bacon, dryly.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2026
Mr. Herzog, who with his intensely dramatic yet dryly matter-of-fact vocal stylings lends the feature his typically scintillating narration, follows him on a journey to Namibia and Angola in search of the ghost elephants.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026
“That’s the most exciting laundry I’ve ever done,” a man with a gray beard says dryly, then walks back into everyday life, to the extent that everyday life is possible anymore.
From Slate • Feb. 11, 2026
“Your brachial nerve plexus, I’m guessing,” Kvothe said dryly.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
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.
