dreary
Drab; dark, colorless, or cheerlessDrab; dark, colorless, or cheerless.
Meaning
2 sensesDrab; dark, colorless, or cheerless.
It had rained for three days straight, and the dreary weather dragged the townspeople's spirits down.
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary...
öde, trostlos, trüb
мра́чныйmráčnyj, тоскли́выйtosklívyj, печа́льныйpečálʹnyj
(obsolete)Grievous, dire; appalling.
- lacking in liveliness or charm or surprise
- causing dejection
Examples
17 sentencesIt's a dreary place.
deEs ist ein trostloser Ort. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
The weather is quite dreary today.
Today it again is quite dreary.
I've got to go to another dreary meeting tomorrow.
deIch muss morgen zu einer weiteren öden Sitzung gehen. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
What makes life dreary is the want of motivation.
Translations
6 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
From Middle English drery, from Old English drēoriġ (“sad”), from Proto-West Germanic *dreFrom Middle English drery, from Old English drēoriġ (“sad”), from Proto-West Germanic *dreuʀag, from Proto-Germanic *dreuzagaz (“bloody”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrews- (“to break, break off, crumble”), equivalent to drear + -y. Cognate with Saterland Frisian trurich (“sad, dreary”), West Frisian treurich (“sad, dreary”), Dutch treurig (“sad, gloomy”), Low German trurig (“sad”), German traurig (“sad, sorrowful, mournful”), Old Norse dreyrugr, dreyrigr (“bloody, gory”), whence Icelandic dreyrugur (“bloody”). Related to Old English drēor (“blood, falling blood”), Old English drysmian (“to become gloomy”).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
drearier/more dreary, dreariest/most dreary| Comparative | drearier / more dreary Lesson |
|---|---|
| Superlative | dreariest / most dreary Lesson |
regular
Synonyms
59 synonymsWord family
7 related wordsLessons for this word
2 lessons- A2Comparatives — Because it has a comparative form
- A2Superlatives — Because it has a superlative form
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.