Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

wriest

[rahy-ist]
See more synonyms for wriest on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. superlative of wry.
Show More

wry

[rahy]
adjective, wri·er, wri·est.
  1. produced by a distortion or lopsidedness of the facial features: a wry grin.
  2. abnormally bent or turned to one side; twisted; crooked: a wry mouth.
  3. devious in course or purpose; misdirected.
  4. contrary; perverse.
  5. distorted or perverted, as in meaning.
  6. bitterly or disdainfully ironic or amusing: a wry remark.
Show More

Origin of wry

1515–25; adj. use of wry to twist, Middle English wryen, Old English wrīgian to go, strive, tend, swerve; cognate with Dutch wrijgen to twist; akin to Old English wrigels, Latin rīcula veil, Greek rhoikós crooked
Related formswry·ly, adverbwry·ness, noun

Synonyms

See more synonyms for wry on Thesaurus.com
2. awry, askew.

Antonyms

2. straight.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for wriest

Historical Examples

  • I confronted death with a smile; I meet life with the wriest of wry faces.

    Simon the Jester

    William J. Locke

British Dictionary definitions for wriest

wriest

wryest

adjective
  1. the superlative of wry
Show More

wry

adjective wrier, wriest, wryer or wryest
  1. twisted, contorted, or askew
  2. (of a facial expression) produced or characterized by contorting of the features, usually indicating dislike
  3. drily humorous; sardonic
  4. warped, misdirected, or perverse
  5. (of words, thoughts, etc) unsuitable or wrong
Show More
verb wries, wrying or wried
  1. (tr) to twist or contort
Show More
Derived Formswryly, adverbwryness, noun

Word Origin

C16: from dialect wry to twist, from Old English wrīgian to turn; related to Old Frisian wrīgia to bend, Old Norse riga to move, Middle Low German wrīch bent, stubborn
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for wriest

wry

adj.

1520s, "distorted, somewhat twisted," from obsolete verb wry "to contort, to twist or turn," from Old English wrigian "to turn, bend, move, go," from Proto-Germanic *wrig- (cf. Old Frisian wrigia "to bend," Middle Low German wrich "turned, twisted"), from PIE *wreik- "to turn" (cf. Greek rhoikos "crooked," Lithuanian raisas "paralysed"), from root *wer- (3) "to turn, bend" (see versus). Of words, thoughts, etc., from 1590s. The original sense is preserved in awry.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper