Dreary Meaning
/ˈdɹɪəɹi/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjDrab; dark, colorless, or cheerless.
adjGrievous, dire; appalling.
Sentence Examples
I've got to go to another dreary meeting tomorrow.
What makes life dreary is the want of motivation.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The gray sky and cold rain made the whole day feel ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I've got to go to another ____ meeting tomorrow.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English drery, from Old English drēoriġ (“sad”), from Proto-Germanic *dreuzagaz (“bloody”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrews- (“to break, break off, crumble”), equivalent to drear + -y. Cognate with Dutch treurig (“sad, gloomy”), Low German trurig (“sad”), German traurig (“sad, sorrowful, mournful”), Old Norse dreyrigr (“bloody”). Related to Old English drēor (“blood, falling blood”), Old English drysmian (“to become gloomy”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"It was on a dreary night of November, that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils."
— 1818, Mary Shelley, chapter V, in Frankenstein, volume 1:
"The train is booked to stop at Jiza for only three minutes, but more often than not twenty minutes or more are spent on shunting before it sets off again on what must be one of the most dreary journeys in the world."
— 1956 March, R. C. Blaker, “The Hedjaz Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 165:
"I'm taking it all down. The trivialities. The ramblings. The drearies. The trites."
— 2018, Tibor Fischer, The Thought Gang:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The gray sky and cold rain made the whole day feel ____.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I've got to go to another ____ meeting tomorrow.