DREARILY

dismally, drearily

(adverb) in a cheerless manner; “in August 1914, there was a dismally sentimental little dinner, when the French, German, Austrian and Belgian members of the committee drank together to the peace of the future”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Adverb

drearily (comparative more drearily, superlative most drearily)

In a dreary manner

Source: Wiktionary


Drear"i*ly, adv.

Definition: Gloomily; dismally.

DREARY

Drear"y, a. [Compar. Drearier; superl. Dreariest.] Etym: [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dreórig, sad; akin to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dreósan to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle, Drowse.]

1. Sorrowful; distressful. [Obs.] " Dreary shrieks." Spenser.

2. Exciting cheerless sensations, feelings, or associations; comfortless; dismal; gloomy. " Dreary shades." Dryden. "The dreary ground." Prior. Full many a dreary anxious hour. Keble. Johnson entered on his vocation in the most dreary part of that dreary interval which separated two ages of prosperity. Macaulay.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

3 April 2025

WHOLE

(noun) an assemblage of parts that is regarded as a single entity; “how big is that part compared to the whole?”; “the team is a unit”


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Coffee Trivia

The expression “coffee break” was first attested in 1952 in glossy magazine advertisements by the Pan-American Coffee Bureau.

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