Wry
Pronunciation
- IPA: /raɪ/
- Rhymes: -aɪ
- Homophones: rye
Origin 1
From Middle English wrien, from Old English wrÄ«Ä¡ian ("to go, turn, twist, bend, strive, struggle, press forward, endeavor, venture"), from Proto-Germanic *wrigÅnÄ… ("to wriggle"), from Proto-Indo-European *wreiḱ- ("to turn, wrap, tie"), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- ("to turn, bend"). Compare awry, wriggle.
Full definition of wry
Adjective
wry
- Turned away, contorted (of the face or body).
- 1837, Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers, ch. 17:'"Why, you snivelling, wry-faced, puny villain," gasped old Lobbs.
- 1913, Victor Appleton, The Motion Picture Chums at Seaside Park, ch. 11:“Humph! Had to,†said Pep with a wry grimace.
- Dryly humorous; sardonic or bitterly ironic.
- 1871, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, The Haunted Baronet, ch. 6:"The master says a wry word now and then; and so ye let your spirits go down, don't ye see, and all sorts o' fancies comes into your head."
- Twisted, bent, crooked.
- Deviating from the right direction; misdirected; out of place.
- 1820, Walter Scott, The Abbot, ch. 34:Catherine hath made a wry stitch in her broidery, when she was thinking of something else than her work.
- 1876, Walter Savage Landor, The Works and Life of Walter Savage Landor, vol. IV, Imaginary Conversations, Third Series: Dialogues of Literary Men, ch. 6—Milton and Andrew Marvel, p. 155 (Google preview):. . . the wry rigour of our neighbours, who never take up an old idea without some extravagance in its application.
Verb
- (obsolete, intransitive) To turn (away); to swerve or deviate.
- 1535, Thomas More, Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation, ch. 18:God pricketh them of his great goodness still. And the grief of this great pang pincheth them at the heart, and of wickedness they wry away.
- circa 1610 William Shakespeare, Cymbeline, act 5, sc. 1:You married ones,If each of you should take this course, how manyMust murder wives much better than themselvesFor wrying but a little!
- (obsolete, transitive) To divert; to cause to turn away.
- (transitive) To twist or contort (the body, face etc.).
Origin 2
From Middle English wryen, wrien, wreon, wrihen, from Old English wrēon ("to cover, clothe, envelop, conceal, hide, protect, defend"), from Proto-Germanic *wrīhaną ("to wrap, cover"), from Proto-Indo-European *wreiḱ- ("to turn, wrap, tie"), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- ("to turn, bend").