▪ I. dreary, a.
(ˈdrɪərɪ)
Forms: 1 dreóriᵹ, 2 droriᵹ, 2–6 dreri(e, -y, 3 dreori (drori), 3–5 druri, -y, (4 drwry, 4–5 drewry(e), 4–8 dreeri, -y, Sc. dreiri, (6 driery, driry, dryrye), 6– dreary.
[OE. dréoriᵹ gory, bloody, sorrowful, sad, f. dréor gore, falling blood, app.:—OTeut. type *dreuzo-z; in ablaut relation to OS. drôr, OHG. trôr gore, blood (:—*drauzo-z), and to ON. dreyri (:—drauzon-) gore, blood, whence dreyrigr gory, bloody. Generally referred to the verbal ablaut stem *dreuz-, OE. dréosan to drop, fall. To the same verbal root is ultimately referred OHG. *trûrac, MHG. trûrec, Ger. traurig sorrowful, sad, which is thus remotely connected in derivation with dréoriᵹ, dreary.]
† 1. Gory, bloody. Obs.
In OE.; the later instances are doubtful, and may belong to 2.
| Beowulf (Th.) 2838 Wæter stod dreoriᵹ and ᵹedrefed. a 1300 Cursor M. 22462 (Cott.) A blodi rain, a dreri drift. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. vi. 45 With their drery wounds, and bloody gore. |
† 2. Cruel, dire, horrid, grievous. Obs.
| a 1000 Guthlac 1085 (Gr.) Þam ic ᵹeorne gæst-ᵹerynum in þas dreorᵹan tid dædum cwemde mode and mæᵹne. a 1225 Ancr. R. 106 Te Giws dutten..his deorewurde muð mid hore dreori fustes. a 1300 Cursor M. 214 (Cott.) Þe dreri days fiueten þat sal cum for-wit domes day. c 1440 York Myst. xlvi. 158 What drerye destonye me drew fro þat dede! 1600 Hakluyt Voy. III. 41 (R.) To ease the ship's sides from the great and driry strokes of the yce. |
3. Of persons, their actions, state, aspect, etc.: Full of sadness or melancholy; sad, doleful, melancholy: in late use, influenced by 4. Obs. or arch.
| c 1000 ælfric Gen. xliv. 14 Hiᵹ wurdon swiþe dreoriᵹe. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 97 He ifrefrað þa dr[e]oriȝan. c 1315 Shoreham 89 Drery was thy mone. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 1454 Now es he blithe, now es he drery. c 1386 Chaucer Clerk's T. 458 Al drery was his cheere and his lookyng. a 1400–50 Alexander 2989 Sire Dary as a drery man duellis at hame. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 277 Of his deid moir drerie wes ilk man. c 1565 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (1728) 17 With sad, driry and quiet countenance. 1587 Turberv. Trag. T. (1837) 53 The deaw that from thine eyes and drearie cheekes do flow. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 822 Singing drerie lamentations. 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. 224 Come and fetch the dreary passenger. 1742 Shenstone Schoolmistress 227 He, dreary caitiff! pines. 1844 Mrs. Browning Brown Rosary iv. i, Only I am dreary; And, mother, of my dreariness, behold me very weary. |
4. Dismal, gloomy; repulsively dull or uninteresting. (The ordinary current sense: app. a later weakening of 2.)
| 1667 Milton P.L. i. 180 Seest thou yon dreary Plain..The seat of desolation, voyd of light? 1718 Prior Power 401 In chains of craggy hill, or lengths of dreary coast. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. III. lxii. 560 At the dreary prospect of solitude and ruin. 1838 Dickens Lett. (1880) I. 8 A house standing alone in the midst of a dreary moor. 1842 Tennyson Locksley Hall 114 The light of London flaring like a dreary dawn. 1871 L. Stephen Playgr. Eur. ii. (1894) 48 It sounds a very faded and dreary commonplace. 1884 Manch. Exam. 14 May 5/3 The customs which made Sunday the dreariest day in the week are changing. Mod. A dreary speech by a dreary orator. |
5. Comb., as † dreary-mood, dreary-souled, adjs.
| a 1000 Cædmon's Gen. 2798 Draf of wicum dreoriᵹmod. c 1200 Ormin 6541 Herode King Wass dreriȝmod and dreofedd. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 1103 Þan set he him doun drurymode & dropede for hure sake. 1818 Milman Samor 97 Dreary-soul'd Barbarians. |
▪ II. † ˈdreary, v. Obs.
In 1 dreórᵹian, 4 dreri.
[f. prec. adj.]
a. intr. To be dreary. (Only OE.) b. trans. To make dreary, sadden. (Only ME.)
| c 1000 Ruine 30 (Bosw.) Ðas hofu dreorᵹiaþ. a 1300 E.E. Psalter xxxvii. 7 Alle dai dreried I in-went. |
▪ III. dreary, n. colloq.
(ˈdrɪərɪ)
[f. the adj.]
A dreary person.
| 1925 N. Coward Hay Fever i. 39 Damn, damn! It's those drearies. 1936 H. G. Wells Anat. Frustration xiv. 165 The parade of donnish and scholastic drearies. |