Dreary

Definition: Dreary

Dreary

Adjective

1. Depressing in character or appearance; "drove through dingy streets"; "the dismal prison twilight"- Charles Dickens; "drab old buildings"; "a dreary mining town"; "gloomy tenements"; "sorry routine that follows on the heels of death"- B.A.Williams.

2. Lacking in liveliness or charm or surprise; "her drab personality"; "life was drab compared with the more exciting life style overseas"; "a series of dreary dinner parties".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "dreary" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1200. (references)

Note: Dreary \Drear"y\, adjective. [Comparative Drearier; superlative Dreariest.]. (Websters 1913)

Synonyms: Dreary

Dejection

Dreary, flat; dull, dull as a beetle, dull as ditchwater; depressing; Verb:

Pain

Distressing; afflicting, afflictive; joyless, cheerless, comfortless; dismal, disheartening; depressing, depressive; dreary, melancholy, grievous, piteous; woeful, rueful, mournful, deplorable, pitiable, lamentable; sad, affecting, touching, pathetic.

Unity

Lone, lonely, lonesome; desolate, dreary. insecable,

Crosswords: Dreary

Well, in those days mars was a dreary uninhabitable wasteland much like Utah, but unlike Utah mars was eventually made livable. (Futurama; writing credit: Lance Smith; Carl Colpaert)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Books

• A Dreary Story [DOWNLOAD: MICROSOFT READER] (reference)

• The U.S. Until A.D.2200: Her Story Based on History's Dreary Teachings (reference)

• Twas a Dark & Dreary Night: A Woman of Her Own PB (reference)

  (more book examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Ah, Mr. Gale, the weather seemed dreary enough until you came!. Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

It was old enough now, and dreary enough, for nobody lived in it but Scrooge, the other rooms being all let out as offices.

When the dreary change was wrought, she extended her hand to Pearl.

His comrades helped him as they always do in that dreary place, and he escaped.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Beginning with "dreary": dreary-i, dreary-looking.

Afrikaans

onaangenaam (bleak, dismal, ghastly, grisly, horrible, nasty), donker (bleak, dark, dim, dismal), afsigtelik (dismal, horrible, nasty), aaklig (bleak, dismal, ghastly, grisly, hideous, horrible, nasty). (various references)

Albanian

jointeresant (uninteresting), i zymtë (black, cheerless, crepuscular, dark, depressed, dismal, dour, drab, eerie, funeral, funereal, gloomy, glum, grim, heavy, leaden, macabre, mirk, mirthless, morose, mournful, muddy, murk, sad, sepulchral, somber, sombre, spleenful, stark, sulky, sullen, surly, tenebrous, winterly, wintry), i vrarë (casualty, murdered), i trishtuar (blue, cheerless, comfortless, dark, disappointed, disappointing, doleful, down, elegiac, funereal, gloomy, grievous, joyless, lugubrious, melancholy, minor, mirthless, miserable, mopish, mournful, pensive, rueful, sad, tristful, unhappy, vapoury, wailful, wan, wistful, woebegone, woeful, woesome), i pakëndshëm (awkward, bad, disgustful, disgusting, distasteful, grating, hard, ill-favored, ill-favoured, nasty, objectionable, repellent, ugly, unattractive, uncongenial, ungrateful, unlovable, unpalatable, unpleasant, unpresentable, unsightly, warm), i mërzitshëm (annoying, boring, bothersome, corny, dead alive, depressing, dissatisfactory, dry, dull, fatiguing, fierce, pesky, plaguesome, pragmatical, slow, tedious, tiresome, weariful, wearisome, weary). (various references)

Arabic 

‏كئيب (bleak, blue, cheerless, damp, dark, dejected, depressed, depressing, depressive, desolate, disconsolate, dismal, dispirited, distressful, distressing, doleful, dolorous, down, downcast, down-hearted, drear, droopy, dyspeptic, funeral, funereal, gloomy, glum, gray, grey, grief-stricken, grieved, grievous, heavy-hearted, ill, joyless, leaden, lifeless, low-spirited, melancholic, melancholy, moody, mournful, out of spirits, rueful, sad, saddening, somber, sombre, spiritless, sullen, tearful, weary), ‏ممل (boring, dull, humdrum, irksome, iterative, monotonous, mundane, ponderous, slow, stodgy, tedious, tiresome, troublesome, uninteresting, vapid, weariful, wearisome, weary), ‏حزين (afflicted, cheerless, dejected, depressed, doleful, dolorous, downcast, drear, lamentable, lugubrious, melancholic, miserable, mournful, pathetic, plaintive, rueful, sad, sore, sorrowful, sorry, sullen, unhappy, wailful, weary, wistful, woeful). (various references)

Bavarian

dung (bleak, dark, dismal). (various references)

Chinese 

厭倦 , 惨淡. (various references)

Czech

pustý (bleak, desert, desolate, godforsaken, hollow, stark, void, waste, wild), pošmourný (dull), nudný (boring, dull, humdrum, jejune, prosy, slow, stuffy, tedious, tiresome), neveselý (dismal, gloomy, mirthless), fádní (bloodless, drab, dull, featureless, flat, Gray, grey, humdrum, jejune, tame, tasteless, tiresome), chmurný (dismal, drear, dull, gloomy, Gray, grey, grim), bezútìšný (bleak, cheerless, comfortless, desolate, gaunt, grim, miserable). (various references)

Danish

mørk (bleak, dark, dim, dismal), bedrøvet (dismal, gaunt, miserable, sad). (various references)

Dutch

donker (bleak, dark, darkness, dim, dismal, murk, obscure), doods (dead, gaunt), onaangenaam (bleak, dismal, ghastly, grisly, horrible, nasty), afschuwelýk (abhorrent, abominable, agonizing, alien, awful, dismal, ghastly, gruesome, hideous, horrible, nasty), afzichtelýk (dismal, horrible, nasty), akelig (bleak, dismal, ghastly, grisly, horrible, nasty), bedroefd (dismal, gaunt, miserable, sad), betrokken (concerned, dismal, in question), bewolkt (cloudy, dismal), eenzaam (gaunt, lonely, single, solitary), foeilelýk (dismal, horrible, nasty), mistroostig (bleak, dismal, gaunt, miserable, sad, somber, sullen), afgrýselýk (abhorrent, abominable, agonizing, alien, awful, dismal, ghastly, gruesome, hideous, horrible, nasty), naargeestig (bleak, desolate, dismal, gaunt, gloomy, miserable, mournful, sad, somber, sullen), woest (ferocious, fierce, furious, gaunt, savage, uncultivated, wild), onbeschaafd (uncivilized, uncultured), somber (bleak, dark, desolate, dismal, gaunt, gloomy, miserable, mournful, sad, somber, sullen), treurig (dismal, gaunt, miserable, sad), triest (dismal, sad, sadly), triestig (bleak, dismal, gaunt, miserable, sad, somber, sullen), troosteloos (desolate, dismal, gaunt, gloomy, mournful), uitgestorven (gaunt), verdrietelýk (bleak, deplorable, dismal, ghastly, grisly, horrible, nasty, pitiable, sad), verlaten (abandon, abandoned, alone, desert, forsake, gaunt, leave, only, quit, sole, solitary, uninhabited), vervelend (bleak, boring, bothersome, dismal, ghastly, grisly, horrible, nasty, stodgy, tiresome, weary), wild (ferocious, savage, uncultivated, wild), naar (about, according as, according to, along, as, bleak, by, dismal, for, ghastly, grisly, horrible, ill, long for, nasty, sick, to, toward, towards, untranslated, unwell, yearn). (various references)

Esperanto

dezerta (gaunt), trista (dismal, sad), senkultura, nekulturita, morna (desolate, dismal, gaunt, gloomy, mournful), melankolia (bleak, dismal, gaunt, melancholy), malserena (dismal), malhela (bleak, dark, dismal), malgaja (bleak, dismal, gaunt, miserable, sad, somber), malbelega (dismal, horrible, nasty), malagrabla (bleak, dismal, ghastly, grisly, horrible, nasty), abomena (dismal, ghastly, hideous, horrible, nasty). (various references)

Faeroese

dapur (desolate, dismal, gaunt, gloomy, mournful, sad), tyngjandi (desolate, dismal, gaunt, gloomy, mournful), syrgin (dismal, gaunt, miserable, sad), syrgiligur (bleak, dismal, gaunt, miserable, sad, somber, sullen), oyðin (gaunt), illa hýrdur (dismal, sad), óglaður (bleak, dismal, gaunt, miserable, sad, somber, sullen). (various references)

Farsi 

مایه افسردگی , دلتنگ کننده (Dismal, Stuffy). (various references)

Finnish

surullinen (dismal, grieved, sad, sorrowful). (various references)

French

triste (drear), repoussant, morne (drab, drear), affreux (dreadful), abominable. (various references)

Frisian

drôf (bleak, dismal, gaunt, miserable, sad, somber, sullen), donker (bleak, dark, dismal), ferdrietlik (bleak, dismal, gaunt, miserable, sad, somber, sullen), aaklik (bleak, dismal, ghastly, grisly, horrible, nasty), ûnhuerich (dismal, horrible, nasty, quite, very, very much), ûnhuer (dismal, horrible, nasty). (various references)

German

trostlos (bleak, bleakly, cheerless, comfortless, comfortlessly, desolate, desolately, disconsolate, dismal, dismally, grimly, hopeless, inconsolable, miserable, wretched), düster (black, bleak, cheerless, dark, dim, dingy, dismal, drab, dusky, forbidding, frowning, funereal, funereally, gaunt, gloomily, gloomy, Gray, lugubrious, miserable, morbid, murky, obscure, sad, saturnine, sepulcher, sinister, somber, somberly, sombre, sullen). (various references)

Greek 

θλιβερόσ (afflictive, bleak, doleful, dolourous, drear, grievous, lugubrious, pathetical, rueful, woeful). (various references)

Hebrew 

משמים (appalled), משעמם ומ�"כא. (various references)

Hungarian

utálatos (abhorrent, abominable, alien, awful, detestable, dismal, distasteful, execrable, ghastly, groaty, grotty, gruesome, hateful, hideous, horrible, loathful, loathsome, monstrous, nasty, nauseating, obnoxious, odious, poisonous, rank), szomorú (blue, cheerless, disconsolate, dismal, distressed, doleful, down in the mouth, drear, face as long as a fiddle, grievous, heart broken, joyless, long-faced, melancholy, mirthless, mopish, mournful, pained, piteous, pitiable, plaintive, sad, sorrowful, to be in the dumps, tristful), sivár (bald, barren, bleak, desolate, dingy, drear, dusty, gaunt, humdrum, meagre, penurious, sullen), ronda (bloody, disagreeable, dismal, frumpy, horrible, nasty, stinker, ugly), ocsmány (dastardly, dirty, dirty mind, dismal, foul, frumpy, groaty, grotty, hideous, horrible, nasty, squalid). (various references)

Icelandic

dapur (bleak, dismal, gaunt, miserable, sad, somber, sullen), viðbjóðslegur (dismal, ghastly, hideous, horrible, nasty), hræðilegur (abysmal, dismal, dreadful, ghastly, gruesome, hideous, horrible, nasty, terrible), óþægilegur (bleak, dismal, ghastly, grisly, horrible, nasty). (various references)

Indonesian

suram (bleak, dim, dismal, gloom, grim). (various references)

Italian

triste (black, bleak, blue, blue-deviled, blue-devilled, cheerless, dark, dejected, disconsolate, dismal, doleful, dull, dusky, gaunt, gloomy, heavy, hipped, lachrymose, miserable, moody, moped, sad, somber, sombre, sorrowful, sorry, sullen, unhappy, wan, woebegone), spiacevole (bleak, disconcerting, dismal, displeasing, embarassing, evil, ghastly, grisly, horrible, invidious, miserable, nasty, regrettable, sticky, uncomfortable, unpleasant), sgradevole (bad, bleak, disagreeable, dismal, distasteful, ghastly, grisly, horrible, invidious, nasty, objectionable, obnoxious, unpalatable, unpleasant, unsavory, unsavoury, unsightly), scuro (black, bleak, dark, dim, dingy, dismal, dull, overcast, somber, sombre, swarthy), schifoso (disgusting, dismal, dreadful, foul, horrible, lousy, nasty, poisonous, revolting, rotten, verminous), mostruoso (abominable, awful, dismal, enormous, hideous, horrible, Mega, monster, monstrous, nasty, rotten, undelightful, vast), buio (black, bleak, dark, darkness, dismal, gloom, gloominess, murkiness, night, somber, somberness, sombre, sombreness), afflitto (bleak, destressed, dismal, gaunt, miserable, mournful, pained, sad, somber, sorrowful, sorrowing, sorry, sullen, unhappy), abominevole (abominable, beastly, dismal, ghastly, hideous, horrible, nasty, nefarious). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

落莫たる (desolate, lonesome), 蕭条たる (bleak, lonely), 遣る瀬無い (cheerless, disconsolate, downhearted, helpless, miserable), 遣る瀬ない (cheerless, disconsolate, downhearted, helpless, miserable), �'涼たる (desolate), �'寥たる (desolate), 索莫たる (bleak, desolate), 索莫 (bleak), 索� たる (bleak, desolate), 索� (bleak), 索寞 (bleak), 殺風景 (tasteless, tastelessness), 侘しい (comfortless, lonely, miserable, shabby, wretched), 佗しい (comfortless, lonely, miserable, shabby, wretched). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

しょうじょうたる (bleak, lonely), さくばくたる (bleak, desolate), さくばく (bleak), さっぷうけい (tasteless, tastelessness), �"うりょうたる (desolate), わびしい (comfortless, lonely, miserable, shabby, wretched), らくばくたる (desolate, lonesome), やるせない (cheerless, disconsolate, downhearted, helpless, miserable). (various references)

Manx

dree (boring, drab, dull, humdrum, painful, tedious), bugganeagh (fearful looking, frightening, frightful, puckish). (various references)

Norwegian

trist (bleak, dismal, drab, dull, gaunt, miserable, sad, somber, sullen), ensom (gaunt, immense, lonely, lonesome, remote). (various references)

Papiamen

desagradabel (bleak, dismal, ghastly, grisly, horrible, nasty), tristu (bleak, dismal, gaunt, miserable, sad, somber, sullen), feroso (abysmal, dismal, dreadful, ghastly, gruesome, hideous, horrible, nasty, terrible), feros (abysmal, dismal, dreadful, ghastly, gruesome, hideous, horrible, nasty, terrible), abominabel (abhorrent, abject, abominable, abysmal, alien, awful, disdainful, disgusting, dismal, dreadful, ghastly, gruesome, hideous, horrible, nasty, nauseous, terrible). (various references)

Pig Latin

earydray

Polish

smutny (bleak, dismal, gaunt, miserable, sad, somber, sullen). (various references)

Portuguese

triste (bleak, blue, broken-hearted, cheerless, dark, desolate, dire, disconsolate, dismal, doleful, dumpish, dumpy, gaunt, gloomily, gray, grey, joyless, lonesome, lugubrious, melancholy, mirthless, miserable, misty, moody, mopish, mourning, pained, painful, pensive, piteous, sad, saturnine, somber, sombre, sore, sorrowful, sorry, tearful, tristful, unhappy, upset), sombrio (abstruse, adust, bleak, bowery, cheerless, cloudy, dark, darkling, darksome, dim, dingy, dismal, doleful, dun, dusk, dusky, ebon, funereal, fuscous, gaunt, gloomily, gloomy, glum, grave, hard-headed, lowering, mirk, miserable, misty, morose, murk, murky, obscure, opaque, overcast, sable, sad, saturnine, shadowy, somber, sombre, stygian, umbrageous), melancólico (atrabilious, bleak, blue, cloudy, dark, desolate, dismal, dumpish, gaunt, gloomy, low-spirited, melancholic, melancholy, moody, mopish, morose, mournful, mourning, pensive, sad, somber, sombre). (various references)

Romanian

trist (bleak, blue, cheerless, dark, darkish, depressing, dispirited, doleful, dolefully, dolorous, downcast, drab, dull, dumpish, elegiac, glum, joyless, lamenting, maudlin, melancholy, miserable, mournful, mournfully, pensive, pensively, rueful, sad, sadly, sorrowful, splenetic, sullen, tough, unfortunate, unhappy, woebegone, woeful), sumbru (black, cloudy, dark, dismal, dull, dusky, fuscous, gloomy, overcast, shadowy, somber, sombre), plictisitor la culme, mohorât (bleak, blue, cheerless, dark, dismal, downcast, dull, dun, gloomy, grave, Gray, grey, lowering, overcast, sad). (various references)

Russian 

мрачный (black, bleak, cheerless, dark, darksome, dismal, dour, drear, funereal, gaunt, gloomy, glum, grave, grey, grim, heavy, lugubrious, macabre, mirk, morose, mournful, murk, murky, obscure, saturnine, somber, sombre, sullen, tenebrous, woebegone). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

dosadan (acerbate, annoying, boring, bothersome, drear, grinding, humdrum, incommodious, long-spun, pain in the neck, pesky, poky, repetitious, slow, stodgy, stuffy, teasing, tedious, tiresome, undiverted, vexatious), turoban (bleak, dour, drear, gloomy, morose, overcast). (various references)

Spanish

triste (bleak, blue, cheerless, dark, depressing, dismal, doleful, dolorous, drear, gaunt, gloomy, glum, heavy, hipped, joyless, joylessly, mirthless, miserable, mournful, rueful, sad, somber, sorrowful, sorry, sullen, unhappy), lúgubre (bleak, dark, dismal, forbidding, gash, gaunt, ghastly, grisly, horrible, lugubrious, mournful, nasty), horroroso (abhorrent, abominable, agonizing, alien, awful, dismal, dreadful, ghastly, gruesome, harrowing, hideous, horrible, horrid, horrifying, nasty, wicked), horrible (abhorrent, abominable, agonizing, alien, appalling, awful, bleak, dire, direful, dirty, dismal, dread, evil, formidably, foul, frightful, ghastly, grim, grisly, gruesome, hellish, hideous, horrible, horrid, lousy, lurid, moldy, mouldy, nasty, shocking, stinking, terrible, terror, vile, wicked), afligido (afflicted, aggrieved, bereaved, bleak, desolate, dismal, distressed, gaunt, miserable, mournful, pained, sad, somber, sorrowful, sorry, stricken, sullen, troubled), árido (arid, barren, dry, jejune, unfruitful). (various references)

Swedish

trist (dull, frumpish, gloomy, sad, stodgy, suburban, tiresome), dyster (angry, beetle-browed, black, bleak, blue, cloudy, dark, darksome, disconsolate, dismal, doleful, funereal, gloomy, glum, grave, heavy, humpy, in the doldrums, lugubrious, morose, murky, sad, saturnine, sepulchral). (various references)

Tagalog

malungkót (bleak, dismal, gaunt, miserable, sad, somber, sullen). (various references)

Thai

เศร้าซึม (in a bad mood). (various references)

Turkish

sıkıntılı (annoying, constrained, cornered, dismal, distressed, Gray, grey, grueling, gruelling, troubled, troublesome, troublous, uneasy, unrestful, weighty), kederli (broken hearted, chapfallen, dejected, depressed, dismal, doleful, dolorous, drear, heartsick, heartsore, heavy-hearted, low-spirited, mournful, pained, rueful, sick at heart, sorrowful, unhappy, woeful), kasvetli (black, bleak, cheerless, comfortless, depressive, dismal, doleful, drear, funereal, gloomy, grave, howling, lugubrious, melancholy, mopish, muzzy, pitchy, sable, sad, somber, sombre, sullen, tenebrous, waste), iç karartıcı (depressing, drear, gloomy, sad, somber, sombre, sullen), hüzünlü (blue, cheerless, depressing, doleful, downcast, elegiac, funereal, gloomy, glum, melancholic, rueful, sad, somber, sombre, sorrowful), budala (barren, chucklehead, chumpish, clod, clownish, doltish, dullish, fool, jackass, juggins, noddy, noodle, prune, sappy, simple simon, soft, twit, zany), aynasiz (bleak, dismal, ghastly, grisly, horrible, nasty), ahmak (addled, ass, blockhead, boob, bumpkin, cabbagehead, chucklehead, chumpish, clot, country bumpkin, crass, cretin, deadly dull, dimwitted, dolt, doltish, dullish, dumb bell, dunderhead, dunderheaded, fathead, fool, foolish, gander, gawk, gawky, goat, goof, goose, greenhorn, Gubbins, half wit, half-witted, hayseed, idiot, jackass, jerk, josser, kookaburra, light in the head, loon, lummox, lump, muggins, mutt, mutton head, noddy, numskull, prune, pudding-head, sap, saphead, sappy, schlepper, simp, soft, stupid, twerp), acikli (affecting, dismal, gaunt, miserable, moving, sad, touching, tragedy, tragic), ümitsiz (drear, forlorn, frantic, gloomy, gone, hopeless, past cure, past hope, pathetic). (various references)

Turkmen 

tukat (sad, sorrowful). (various references)

Ukrainian

сумний (afflictive, baleful, cheerless, comfortless, damp, dark, deplorable, despondent, dismal, doleful, drear, dumpish, dumpy, elegiac, elegiacal, grievous, heavy-hearted, joyless, lamentable, lugubrious, maddening, melancholy, mournful, overcast, plaintive, regrettable, rueful, sad, sorrowful, unhappy, wailful, wan), похмурий (adust, bleak, cheerless, dark, darksome, despondent, disconsolate, dismal, drear, dull, dusky, frowning, gash, gaunt, ghastly, gloomy, glum, grave, gruff, hard-faced, inhospitable, lowering, macabre, mopish, mournful, murk, nightly, obscure, overcast, sable, saturnine, sepulchral, shadowy, stygian, sullen, surly, tenebrous). (various references)

Vietnamese 

thê lương (drear, gaunt, mournful, stygian), t�"i t� n (drear, poky, shabby, sorry), bu�"n thảm (dismal, drear), ảm đạm (black, drear, dull, howling, mournful, stygian). (various references)

Yucatec

yah tu yool (dismal, gaunt, miserable, sad), tuukul (dismal, gaunt, miserable, sad, think). (various references)

acidus, amarus, exigua, exigui, exiguo, exiguum. (various references)

Misspellings

"Dreary" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Crearie, Daraprim, deari, deery, derare, dready, dreay, dreazy, drekar, drery, dreury, droar, Drouard, idriart, treary, triaryl, wreary. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

-1 letter: darer, deary, deray, derry, drear, dryer, rared, rayed, ready, redry, yarer.

-2 letters: aery, dare, dear, dray, dyer, eyra, rare, read, rear, yard, yare, year.

-3 letters: are, aye, day, dey, dry, dye, ear, era, err, rad, ray, red, rya, rye, yar, yea.

-4 letters: ad, ae, ar, ay, de, ed, er, re, ya, ye.

+1 letter: arrayed, drapery, reynard.

+2 letters: deeryard, defrayer, drearily, foreyard, heraldry, hurrayed, martyred, readerly, reynards, wardenry.

+3 letters: adversary, comradery, daytrader, deeryards, defrayers, dromedary, drysalter, foreyards, graveyard, graybeard, hyperarid, portrayed, predatory, rehydrate, residuary, resprayed, shadberry.

+4 letters: cardplayer, copyreader, daydreamer, daytraders, dehydrator, derogatory, disarrayed, drysalters, drysaltery, gendarmery, graveyards, graybeards, hereditary, keyboarder, lumberyard, martyrized, perdurably, prebendary, preparedly, presidiary, radiometry, rehydrated, rehydrates, rekeyboard, yardmaster.

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