wry

[rahy]

adjective

wrier, wriest 

1. bitterly or disdainfully ironic or amusing.

   a wry remark.

2. produced by a distortion or lopsidedness of the facial features.

   a wry grin.

3. abnormally bent or turned to one side; contorted; crooked.

   a wry mouth.

   Synonyms: askew, awry
   Antonyms: straight

4. devious in course or purpose; misdirected.

5. contrary; perverse.

6. distorted or perverted, as in meaning.

wry

/ raɪ /

adjective

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

verb

1. (tr) to twist or contort

Other Word Forms

• wryly adverb
• wryness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of wry¹

First recorded in 1515–25; adjective use of obsolete verb 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”

Word History and Origins

Origin of wry¹

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

Example Sentences

“The skies are a little rough up here,” he remarked with a wry smile, before mentioning that people will think he’s not in good health — but it was really the turbulence causing the problem.

Read more on Salon

But watch this throne: Sotheby’s expects it to serve as a rare and wry test of art’s appeal beyond its material worth as a precious metal.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Sly, wry, adorable and deplorable, Guillaume Marbeck is priceless as the endlessly irritating and yet frustratingly charismatic Godard in one of the year’s brightest pictures, a rare standout in a sea of multiplex mediocrity.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The buildings instead offer wry witness to the reason those countries are not as great as ours.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The reply was wry and factual but also a warning: Republics are hard to maintain.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• droll 
• ironic 
• mocking 
• sardonic 
• warped 

When To Use

What does wry mean?

Wry commonly means humorous in a way that’s very “dry,” irreverent, ironic, sarcastic, or sardonic. The sense of word is especially used in the terms wry humor and wry wit.This sense of wry is a figurative extension of its literal sense, which means crooked, lopsided, contorted, or distorted. It can also mean contrary or perverse.A wry smile and a wry expression are probably both somewhat contorted and intended to indicate a sense of irony or sarcasm. You might give a wry smile after telling a particularly wry joke (the kind of joke that’s so dry that it’s hard to tell whether it’s a joke).The related word awry can be used as an adverb form of wry or as an adjective meaning wrong in some way (amiss) or slanted or twisted (askew).Example: It takes a while to get used to her wry sense of humor, but she’s not as cynical as she sounds.