dreary
Americanadjective
-
causing sadness or gloom.
- Synonyms:
- comfortless, depressing, cheerless, drear, dismal, gloomy
- Antonyms:
- cheerful
-
dull; boring.
- Synonyms:
- tiresome, wearisome, monotonous, tedious
- Antonyms:
- interesting
-
sorrowful; sad.
adjective
-
sad or dull; dismal
-
wearying; boring
-
archaic miserable
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of dreary
before 900; Middle English drery, Old English drēorig gory, cruel, sad, equivalent to drēor gore + -ig -y 1; akin to Old Norse dreyrigr bloody, German traurig sad
Explanation
When something is dreary it's depressing or lifeless in a rainy-day way. I finished my work, there was nothing on TV, and the rain just wouldn't stop: what a dreary day! Dreary can refer to a feeling, a place, a time, or even a thing. It sounds a little like a combination of "drizzle" and "teary," and that's not a bad way to remember what it means. My grandmother's house was a dreary affair: run down, poorly lit, and silent but for the buzz of the fluorescent light in the cramped kitchen. Some might call the recession a depression: I call it dreary, either way. If the economy remains dreary like this much longer, I just might move to China.
Vocabulary lists containing dreary
100 SAT Words Beginning with "D"
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This Week in Words: September 4 - 8, 2017
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Charlotte's Web
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Gray Lady’s dreary Luddites are as suspicious of Times management as they are of Silicon Valley.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026
A period of dreary, windy, cool weather is settling across Southern California this week, as a cold system from the Pacific Northwest moves south.
From Los Angeles Times • May 26, 2026
Everything in “Mother Mary” feels like it exists in a dream within a dream: the tertiary characters who fade in and out of the narrative, the catchy yet indistinct pop songs, the dreary midnight-blue location.
From Salon • Apr. 24, 2026
Executives say Buffett, who infused his letters with his wit and personal anecdotes that often veered from the requisite review of Berkshire’s operations, elevated a dreary convention of corporate America and set a new standard.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 15, 2026
There was my mom, my staunchest support, whose vigilance had saved me from languishing in a dreary second-grade classroom.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
