dreary

drea·ry

adjective \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 Synonym Discussion at dismal

Rhymes with DREARY

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