Dreary
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -ɪəri
Origin
From Middle English drery, from Old English drēoriġ ("dreary, sad, sorrowful, mournful, pensive, causing grief, cruel, horrid, grievous, bloody, blood-stained, gory, glorious"), from Proto-Germanic *dreuzagaz ("bloody"), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreus- ("to break, break off, crumble"). Cognate with Dutch treurig ("sad, gloomy"), German traurig ("sad, sorrowful, mournful"), Old Norse dreyrigr ("bloody"). Related to Old English drēor ("blood, falling blood"), Old English drysmian ("to become gloomy").
Full definition of dreary
Adjective
dreary
- (obsolete) Grievous, dire; appalling.
- Drab; dark, colorless, or cheerless.It had rained for three days straight, and the dreary weather dragged the townspeople's spirits down.Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary...
- 1818, , , Volume 1, Chapter V:It was on a dreary night of November, that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils.