dreary

dreary
dreary O.E. dreorig "sad, sorrowful," originally "cruel, bloody, blood-stained," from dreor "gore, blood," from (ge)dreosan (pp. droren) "fall, decline, fail," from W.Gmc. *dreuzas (Cf. O.N. dreyrigr "gory, bloody," and more remotely, Ger. traurig "sad, sorrowful"), from PIE root *dhreu- "to fall, flow, drip, droop" (see DRIP (Cf. drip)). The word has lost its original sense of "dripping blood." Sense of "dismal, gloomy" first recorded 1667 in "Paradise Lost," but O.E. had a related verb drysmian "become gloomy."

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • Dreary — Drear y (dr[=e]r [y^]), a. [Compar. {Drearier}; superl. {Dreariest}.] [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dre[ o]rig, sad; akin to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dre[ o]san to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. {Dross}, {Drear}, {Drizzle}, {Drowse}.] 1. Sorrowful;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • dreary — dreary; dun·dreary; …   English syllables

  • dreary — index bleak (severely simple), deplorable, despondent, insipid, jejune (dull), lifeless (dull), lugubri …   Law dictionary

  • dreary — 1 *dismal, cheerless, dispiriting, bleak, desolate Analogous words: discouraging, disheartening (see DISCOURAGE): barren, *bare: forlorn, hopeless (see DESPONDENT) 2 *dull, humdrum, monotonous, pedestrian, stodgy Analogous words …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • dreary — [adj] gloomy, lifeless black, blah, bleak, boring, cheerless, colorless, comfortless, damp, depressing, depressive, dingy, dismal, dispiriting, doleful, downcast, drab, dull, forlorn, funereal, glum, humdrum, joyless, lonely, lonesome, melancholy …   New thesaurus

  • dreary — ► ADJECTIVE (drearier, dreariest) ▪ dull, bleak, and depressing. DERIVATIVES drearily adverb dreariness noun. ORIGIN Old English, «gory, cruel, melancholy» …   English terms dictionary

  • dreary — [drir′ē] adj. drearier, dreariest [ME dreri < OE dreorig, sad, orig., bloody, gory < dreor, blood < base of dreosan, to drip < IE base * dhreu , break off > DRIP, DROWSE] gloomy; cheerless; depressing; dismal; dull drearily adv.… …   English World dictionary

  • dreary — adj. it was very dreary to do the same job every day = it was very dreary doing the same job every day * * * [ drɪərɪ] it was very dreary to do the same job every day = it was very dreary doing the same job every day …   Combinatory dictionary

  • dreary — [[t]drɪ͟əri[/t]] drearier, dreariest ADJ GRADED If you describe something as dreary, you mean that it is dull and depressing. ...a dreary little town in the Midwest... They live such dreary lives. Syn: dismal Derived words: drearily ADV GRADED… …   English dictionary

  • dreary — adjective 1) the dreary hours spent in a jail cell Syn: dull, drab, uninteresting, flat, tedious, wearisome, boring, unexciting, unstimulating, uninspiring, soul destroying; humdrum, monotonous, uneventful, unremarkable, featureless …   Thesaurus of popular words

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