Wordwyrt

dreary

/dˈɹɪɹi/DRIH-ree
/dˈɹɪɹi/DRIH-ree

Meaninggory, sad

Common meaning: dull and gloomy

Journey through time

  1. Old Englishdreorig‘gore, blood’source
  2. Middle Englishdreorisource
  3. Englishmeaning shiftsgore, blood → dull and gloomydreary‘dull and gloomy’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Old English dreorig ‘gory, sad’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Skeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), entry DREARY, p. 179 · dictionary scan

Roots

  • dreorig Old English “gory, sad”

Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app