dreary

adjective

drea·​ry ˈdrir-ē 

drearier; dreariest

1

: feeling, displaying, or reflecting listlessness or discouragement

cheer a dreary mind

—George Berkeley

2

: having nothing likely to provide cheer, comfort, or interest : gloomy, dismal

a cold, dreary morning

drearily

ˈdrir-ə-lē 

adverb

dreariness

ˈdrir-ē-nəs 

noun

Synonyms

• black
• bleak
• cheerless
• chill
• Cimmerian
• cloudy
• cold
• comfortless
• dark
• darkening
• depressing
• depressive
• desolate
• dire
• disconsolate
• dismal
• drear
• dreich [chiefly Scottish]
• elegiac
• elegiacal
• forlorn
• funereal
• gloomy
• glum
• godforsaken
• gray
• grey
• lonely
• lonesome
• lugubrious
• miserable
• morbid
• morose
• murky
• plutonian
• saturnine
• sepulchral
• solemn
• somber
• sombre
• sullen
• sunless
• tenebrific
• tenebrous
• wretched

Choose the Right Synonym for 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

Examples of dreary in a Sentence

It was a gray, dreary morning.

The family struggled through dreary economic times.

Recent Examples on the Web

Looking for a way to make the most of Canada’s mainly dreary, dark winter? —Sandra MacGregor, Forbes, 17 Jan. 2025

In our era of consolidation and polarization, many online spaces can seem dreary, toxic, addicting, or some combination of the three. —Cal Newport, The New Yorker, 8 Jan. 2025

Clearly, Walgreens’ (WBA) implosion was the primary driver of the Dogs’ dreary year. —Brett Owens, Forbes, 4 Jan. 2025

The Premier League’s main UK broadcaster has even tried to create a spectacle in the past — remember the dreadful ‘Red Monday’ match between sides managed by Jose Mourinho and Klopp in 2016 that ended in a dreary 0-0 draw? —Carl Anka, The Athletic, 4 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English drery, from Old English drēorig sad, bloody, from drēor gore; akin to Old High German trūrēn to be sad, Goth driusan to fall

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

dreary

adjective

drea·​ry ˈdri(ə)r-ē 

drearier

ˈdrir-ē-ər

; dreariest

: having nothing that provides cheer, comfort, or interest

drearily

ˈdrir-ə-lē 

adverb

dreariness

ˈdrir-ē-nəs 

noun