dreary

adjective drea·ry \ˈdrir-ē\

: causing unhappiness or sad feelings : not warm, cheerful, etc.

drea·ri·erdrea·ri·est

Full Definition of DREARY

: feeling, displaying, or reflecting listlessness or discouragement

: 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

See dreary defined for English-language learners

See dreary defined for kids

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

Synonym Discussion of DREARY

dismal, dreary, bleak, gloomy, cheerless, desolate mean devoid of cheer or comfort. dismal indicates extreme and utterly depressing gloominess <dismal weather>. dreary, often interchangeable with dismal, emphasizes discouragement resulting from sustained dullness or futility <a dreary job>. bleak suggests chill, dull, and barren characteristics that utterly dishearten <the bleak years of the depression>. gloomy often suggests lack of hope or promise <gloomy war news>. cheerless stresses absence of anything cheering <a drab and cheerless office>. desolate adds an element of utter remoteness or lack of human contact to any already disheartening aspect <a desolate outpost>.