Definition of dreary
- cheer a dreary mind
- —George Berkeley
It was a gray, dreary morning.
The family struggled through dreary economic times.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dreary.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First Known Use: before 12th century
in the meaning defined at sense 1
See Words from the same yeararid, boring, colorless, drab, drudging, dry, dull, dusty, flat, heavy, ho-hum, humdrum, jading, jejune, leaden, mind-numbing, monochromatic, monotonous, numbing, old, pedestrian, ponderous, slow, stale, stodgy, stuffy, stupid, tame, tedious, tiresome, tiring, uninteresting, wearisome, weary, wearying;
absorbing, engaging, engrossing, gripping, interesting, intriguing, involving, riveting;
amazing, astonishing, astounding, awesome, eye-opening, fabulous, marvelous (or marvellous), sensational, spectacular, surprising, wonderful, wondrous;
animating, breathtaking, electrifying, energizing, enlivening, exciting, exhilarating, galvanizing, hair-raising, inspiring, invigorating, rip-roaring, rousing, stimulating, stirring, thrilling;
amusing, diverting, entertaining;
alluring, attracting, attractive, beguiling, bewitching, captivating, charming, enchanting, enthralling, entrancing, fascinating;
aseptic, barren, blah, dullish, pleasureless, prosaic, prosy, soggy, spiritless;
blank, earthbound, gray (also grey), inanimate, pallid, pedantic, sterile, suspenseless, undramatic, uneventful, unexciting, unimaginative, uninspiring, unnewsworthy, unrewarding, unsensational, unspectacular;
annoying, bothersome, irksome, irritating;
draining, enervating, exhausting, fatiguing, wearing;
demoralizing, discouraging, disheartening, dispiriting;
common, commonplace, ordinary, tepid, unexceptional, unsurprising, vapid;
cumbersome, lumbering, plodding, poky (or pokey);
: causing unhappiness or sad feelings : not warm, cheerful, etc.
See words that rhyme with dreary Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for dreary Spanish Central: Translation of dreary Nglish: Translation of dreary for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of dreary for Arabic speakers
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