wry
Americanadjective
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bitterly or disdainfully ironic or amusing.
a wry remark.
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produced by a distortion or lopsidedness of the facial features.
a wry grin.
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abnormally bent or turned to one side; contorted; crooked.
a wry mouth.
- Antonyms:
- straight
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devious in course or purpose; misdirected.
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distorted or perverted, as in meaning.
adjective
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twisted, contorted, or askew
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(of a facial expression) produced or characterized by contorting of the features, usually indicating dislike
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drily humorous; sardonic
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warped, misdirected, or perverse
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(of words, thoughts, etc) unsuitable or wrong
verb
Usage
What does wry mean? Wry commonly means humorous in a way that’s very “dry,” irreverent, ironic, sarcastic, or sardonic. The sense of word is especially used in the terms wry humor and wry wit.This sense of wry is a figurative extension of its literal sense, which means crooked, lopsided, contorted, or distorted. It can also mean contrary or perverse.A wry smile and a wry expression are probably both somewhat contorted and intended to indicate a sense of irony or sarcasm. You might give a wry smile after telling a particularly wry joke (the kind of joke that’s so dry that it’s hard to tell whether it’s a joke).The related word awry can be used as an adverb form of wry or as an adjective meaning wrong in some way (amiss) or slanted or twisted (askew).Example: It takes a while to get used to her wry sense of humor, but she’s not as cynical as she sounds.
Other Word Forms
- wryly adverb
- wryness noun
Etymology
Origin of wry
First recorded in 1515–25; adjective use of obsolete verb wry “to twist,” Middle English wryen, Old English wrīgian “to go, strive, tend, swerve”; cognate with Dutch wrijgen “to twist”; akin to Old English wrigels, Latin rīcula “veil,” Greek rhoikós “crooked”
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.
