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- pronunciation:
- dri
ri
- features:
- Word Combinations (adjective), Word History, Word Explorer
| part of speech: |
adjective |
| inflections: |
drearier, dreariest |
| definition 1: |
cheerless, bleak, or depressing.
She sighed as she looked out at the dreary winter landscape.- synonyms:
- bleak, cheerless, dismal, gloomy
- antonyms:
- cheerful, scenic
- similar words:
- barren, grim, hopeless, sterile
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| definition 2: |
tedious, boring, or unexciting.
How can you read those dreary novels?- synonyms:
- barren, boring, drab, dull, tedious
- similar words:
- arid, dead, dismal, flat, ponderous, stale, sterile, tiresome, vapid, wearisome
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| related words: |
cloudy, dark, disconsolate, doleful, drab, dull, gloomy, grim, melancholy, moody, overcast, somber, stark, sullen |
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| derivations: |
drearily (adv.), dreariness (n.) |
Dreary comes from an Old English word that originally meant "gory or bloody." In time, "dreary" came to mean "horrid." By the 1600s, its meaning had softened to "gloomy."
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