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dreary

drear·y

dreary

 
 
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
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
Word CombinationsSubscriber feature About this feature
derivations: drearily (adv.), dreariness (n.)
Word History
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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  sad