WRY

dry, ironic, ironical, wry

(adjective) humorously sarcastic or mocking; “dry humor”; “an ironic remark often conveys an intended meaning obliquely”; “an ironic novel”; “an ironical smile”; “with a wry Scottish wit”

wry

(adjective) bent to one side; “a wry neck”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

---

Etymology 1

Adjective

wry (comparative wrier or wryer, superlative wriest)

Turned away, contorted (of the face or body).

Dryly humorous; sardonic or bitterly ironic.

Twisted, bent, crooked.

Deviating from the right direction; misdirected; out of place.

Verb

wry (third-person singular simple present wries, present participle wrying, simple past and past participle wried)

(obsolete, intransitive) To turn (away); to swerve or deviate.

(obsolete, transitive) To divert; to cause to turn away.

(transitive) To twist or contort (the body, face, etc.).

Noun

wry

(regional) Distortion.

Etymology 2

Verb

wry (third-person singular simple present wries, present participle wrying, simple past and past participle wried)

(transitive, obsolete) To cover; clothe; cover up; cloak; hide.

Source: Wiktionary

---

Wry, v. t. Etym: [AS. wreón.]

Definition: To cover. [Obs.] Wrie you in that mantle. Chaucer.

Wry, a. [Compar. Wrier; superl. Wriest.] Etym: [Akin to OE. wrien to twist, to bend, AS. wrigian to tend towards, to drive.]

1. Turned to one side; twisted; distorted; as, a wry mouth.

2. Hence, deviating from the right direction; misdirected; out of place; as, wry words. Not according to the wry rigor of our neighbors, who never take up an old idea without some extravagance in its application. Landor.

3. Wrested; perverted. He . . . puts a wry sense upon Protestant writers. Atterbury. Wry face, a distortion of the countenance indicating impatience, disgust, or discomfort; a grimace.

Wry, v. i.

1. To twist; to writhe; to bend or wind.

2. To deviate from the right way; to go away or astray; to turn side; to swerve. This Phebus gan awayward for to wryen. Chaucer. How many Must murder wives much better than themselves For wrying but a little! Shak.

Wry, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wried; p. pr. & vb. n. Wrying.] Etym: [OE. wrien. See Wry, a.]

Definition: To twist; to distort; to writhe; to wrest; to vex. Sir P. Sidney. Guests by hundreds, not one caring If the dear host's neck were wried. R. Browning.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

---