dreich
/dɹiːk/
"dreich" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“dreich” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Extending for a long distance or time, especially when tedious or wearisome; long-drawn-out, protracted; also, of speech or writing: unnecessarily verbose; long-winded.
Corpus desk
Index EN-dreich · dreich · English
dreich · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "D" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dreich |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /dɹiːk/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “dreich” in English
Rare enough to double-check
dreich is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /dɹiːk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 12 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for dreich, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: The adjective is borrowed from Scots dreich (“hard to bear, dreary, tedious, wearisome; interminable, long-winded; dull, uninteresting; slow, tardy; doleful, gloomy; baffling, difficult; difficult to reach, inaccessible”), from Middle English dregh, dri, dr… The correct English form is dreich, spelled D-R-E-I-C-H.
Definition
- 1Extending for a long distance or time, especially when tedious or wearisome; long-drawn-out, protracted; also, of speech or writing: unnecessarily verbose; long-winded.
- 2Not enjoyable or interesting; boring, dull.
- 3Bleak, cheerless, dismal, dreary, miserable.
- 4suitably serious or solemn
- 5of a person: patient, stoic, tolerant, resolute
- 6Slow, sluggish; specifically, of a person: tending to delay or procrastinate (especially when paying for something).
- 7Of a person: having a dejected or serious appearance or mood; dour, gloomy, moody, morose, sullen.
- 8Of a task: laborious, tedious, troublesome; hence, needing concentration to understand; intricate.
- 9Chiefly of rain: without pause or stop; continuous, incessant.
- 10Of weather: dreary, gloomy (cold, overcast, rainy, etc.).
- 11Of a person: negotiating forcefully; driving a hard bargain.
- 12Of a place (especially a hill or mountain): difficult to get through or reach; inaccessible.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how dreich appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
So Alec showed her the letter, 'twas long and dreich and went on and on; […]
VVhen thou an' I vvere young an' ſkiegh, / An' ſtable-meals at Fairs vvere driegh, / Hovv thou vvad prance, an' ſnore, an' ſkriegh, / An' tak the road!
Etymology
The adjective is borrowed from Scots dreich (“hard to bear, dreary, tedious, wearisome; interminable, long-winded; dull, uninteresting; slow, tardy; doleful, gloomy; baffling, difficult; difficult to reach, inaccessible”), from Middle English dregh, dri, drie (“burdensome; depressing, dismal; large, tall; lasting, long; long-suffering, patient; tedious; of blows: hard, heavy; of the face: unchanging, unmoved; of a person: strong, valorous”) [and other forms], from Old English *drēog, drēoh (“earnest; fit; sober”), and then probably partly: * shortened from Old English ġedrēog (“calm, quiet; sober; fit, suitable”, adjective), from ġe- (prefix forming adjectives of association or similarity) + Proto-Germanic *dreugaz (“enduring, lasting”) (from *dreuganą (“to serve, be a retainer”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrewgʰ- (“to serve one’s tribe; loyal”)); and * influenced by Old Norse drjúgr (“sufficient; excessive, very; great; strong”), from Proto-Germanic *dreugaz (see above). The noun is probably partly derived: * from the adjective; and * borrowed from Scots dreich (“dreariness, gloom”) (rare), probably from Middle English dri, drie (“annoyance, trouble; grief; period of time”) [and other forms], possibly from dri, drie (adjective) (see above). (Compare Old English ġedrēog (“seemliness; seriousness, sobriety; something appropriate or required”, noun), which did not survive into Middle English.) Cognates * German Low German drēg, drēge * Icelandic drjúgur (“ample; heavy, substantial; long”) * North Frisian drech * Old Danish drygh (modern Danish drøj (“heavy; solid, tough”)) * Old Swedish drygher (modern Swedish dryg (“ample, liberal; hard; large; lasting”)) * Saterland Frisian drjooch * Scots dreich * West Frisian dreech, drege (“extensive; long-lasting”)
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.