dreary

drea·ry

adj \ˈdrir-ē\

drea·ri·erdrea·ri·est

Definition of DREARY

1

: feeling, displaying, or reflecting listlessness or discouragement

2

: having nothing likely to provide cheer, comfort, or interest : gloomy, dismal

— drea·ri·ly \ˈdrir-ə-lē\ adverb

— drea·ri·ness \ˈdrir-ē-nəs\ noun

Examples of DREARY

1. It was a gray, dreary morning.
2. The family struggled through dreary economic times.

Origin of DREARY

Middle English drery, from Old English drēorig sad, bloody, from drēor gore; akin to Old High German trūrēn to be sad, Gothic driusan to fall

First Known Use: before 12th century

Related to DREARY

Synonyms: black, bleak, cheerless, chill, Cimmerian, cloudy, cold, comfortless, dark, darkening, depressing, depressive, desolate, dire, disconsolate, dismal, drear, gloomy, dreich [chiefly Scottish], elegiac (also elegiacal), forlorn, funereal, glum, godforsaken, gray (also grey), lonely, lonesome, lugubrious, miserable, morbid, morose, murky, plutonian, saturnine, sepulchral, solemn, somber (or sombre), sullen, sunless, tenebrific, tenebrous, wretched

Antonyms: bright, cheerful, cheering, cheery, comforting, cordial, festive, friendly, gay, heartwarming, sunshiny

Related Words: blue, dejected, depressed, despondent, disconsolate, down, droopy, hangdog, inconsolable, low, melancholic, melancholy, mirthless, sad, unhappy, woebegone, woeful; dim, discomfiting, discouraging, disheartening, dismaying, dispiriting, distressful, distressing, upsetting; desperate, hopeless, pessimistic; lamentable, mournful, plaintive, sorrowful; colorless, drab, dull; dour, grim, lowering (also louring), lowery (also loury), menacing, negative, oppressive, threatening

Near Antonyms: blithe, blithesome, buoyant, gay, jocund, jolly, joyful, joyous, merry, mirthful; encouraging, hopeful, optimistic; lighthearted, lightsome

see all synonyms and antonyms

[+]more[-]hide

See Synonym Discussion at dismal

Rhymes with DREARY

beery, bleary, cheery, eerie, leery, Peary, peri, quaere, query, smeary, sphery, teary, veery, weary