dreary
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
boring and making you feel unhappy, usually because it is dark, grey, or never changes.
characterised by dullness and a lack of cheer; causing feelings of boredom or mild depression.
Simple“The weather was dreary and grey, so we decided to stay inside all day.”
In context“After three weeks of dreary rain and overcast skies, the residents were desperate for even a few minutes of direct sunlight.”
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
describes work or a situation that is very boring and seems to go on forever.
lacking interest or excitement; monotonous and tiresome in nature.
Simple“He spent the afternoon doing dreary paperwork that no one would ever read.”
In context“The clerk found the dreary routine of filing invoices increasingly difficult to bear as the years went by.”
SynonymsAntonyms
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”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.