# dreary

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈdɹɪəɹi/ · frequency rank #26,070

## Definitions
1. Drab; dark, colorless, or cheerless.
2. Grievous, dire; appalling.

## Etymology
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”).

## Easily confused with
- **drury** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dreary-vs-drury)
- **dear** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dear-vs-dreary)
- **dream** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dream-vs-dreary)
- **diary** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/diary-vs-dreary)
- **dread** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dread-vs-dreary)
- **Derry** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/derry-vs-dreary)
- **decry** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/decry-vs-dreary)
- **dreams** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dreams-vs-dreary)
- **dearly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dearly-vs-dreary)
- **dreamt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dreamt-vs-dreary)
- **dreamy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dreamy-vs-dreary)
- **dreads** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dreads-vs-dreary)
- **dietary** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dietary-vs-dreary)

## Common misspellings (9)
`ddreary`, `derary`, `draery`, `drearry`, `drearyy`, `dreayr`, `dreray`, `drreary`, `rdeary`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/dreary