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
- drearily adverb
- dreariness noun
- drearisome adjective
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.
Her answer was definite: We should sort out and sell or give away almost all of our trinkets, T-shirts, books and baubles before we die—rather than leaving a dreary chore for friends or families.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026
As our thoughts turn to the hope of spring following a grey and dreary start to the year, fashion is always one step ahead.
From BBC • Mar. 10, 2026
"I think a lot of American horror comics are quite dreary in terms of their aesthetic," Walsh said.
From Barron's • Feb. 19, 2026
An 11-6 regular season record couldn’t disguise a dreary team that played excellent defense but hardly moved the ball.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 12, 2026
The building is so dreary and sterile that it almost looks like a prison.
From "I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter" by Erika L. Sánchez
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.
