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PlainSpell

dry

/ˈdɹaɪ̯/adjective, noun, verb

dry is spelled D-R-Y: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 55 times per million words in written English, the 1,865th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, dry means “Free from or lacking moisture” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in dry?

Letters3: D-R-Y
Syllables1
In writing55 times per million words; the 1,865th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is dry?

Dry appears 55 times per million words in written English, the 1,865th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce dry?

  • US /ˈdɹaɪ̯/
  • US [ˈdɹ̝ʷaɪ̯]
  • US [ˈd̠ɹ̠˔ʷaɪ̯]

Dry has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-dry.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Back_ache-dry.wav, EN-AU_ck1_dry.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with dry

Also written: dryer.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with dry?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as dry from its last stressed vowel (/aɪ/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of dry

  • drier comparative
  • dryer comparative
  • driest superlative
  • dryest superlative
  • drys plural
  • dries plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • drying participle, present
  • dried participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does dry mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Free from or lacking moisture.

    This towel's dry. Could you wet it and cover the chicken so it doesn't go dry as it cooks?

  2. 2

    Unable to produce a liquid, as water, (petrochemistry) oil, or (agriculture) milk.

    This well is as dry as that cow.

  3. 3

    Built without or lacking mortar.

  4. 4

    Anhydrous: free from or lacking water in any state, regardless of the presence of other liquids.

    Dry alcohol is 200 proof.

  5. 5

    Athirst, eager.

  6. 6

    Free from or lacking alcohol or alcoholic beverages.

    Of course it's a dry house. He was an alcoholic but he's been dry for almost a year now.

  7. 7

    Describing an area where sales of alcoholic or strong alcoholic beverages are banned.

    You'll have to drive out of this dry county to find any liquor.

  8. 8

    Free from or lacking embellishment or sweetness, particularly

noun

  1. 1

    The process by which something is dried.

    This towel is still damp: I think it needs another dry.

  2. 2

    USA prohibitionist (of alcoholic beverages).

    The drys were as unhappy with the second part of the speech as the wets were with the first half.

  3. 3

    An area with little or no rain, or sheltered from it.

    Come under my umbrella and keep in the dry.

  4. 4

    AustraliaThe dry season.

  5. 5

    AustraliaAn area of waterless country.

  6. 6

    Unsweetened ginger ale; dry ginger.

  7. 7

    UKA radical or hard-line Conservative; especially, one who supported the policies of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.

verb

  1. 1

    To lose moisture.

    The clothes dried on the line.

  2. 2

    To remove moisture from.

    Devin dried her eyes with a handkerchief.

  3. 3

    To exhaust; to cause to run dry.

  4. 4

    informalFor an actor to forget their lines while performing.

phrase

as DRY
  1. 1

    Acronym of don't repeat yourself (“software development principle aimed at reducing repetition”).

adjective

as DRY
  1. 1

    Of code, having the quality of adhering to the principle of DRY; containing as little repetition as possible.

verb

as DRY
  1. 1

    To cause code to become DRY; to remove repetition from code.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Dry in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchsec (free from liquid or moisture), anhydre (free of water in any state), sécher (to become dry), faire sécher (to make dry)
Germantrocken (free from liquid or moisture), trocknen (to become dry), abtrocknen, abdroggne, abdroggle (to make dry)
Portugueseseco (free from liquid or moisture), secar (to become dry), enxugar (to make dry)
Spanishseco (free from liquid or moisture), secarse (to become dry), secar, enjugar (to make dry)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does dry come from?

Adjective and noun from Middle English drye, dryge, drüȝe, from Old English drȳġe (“dry; parched, withered”), from Proto-West Germanic *drūgī, *draugī, from Proto-Germanic *drūgiz, *draugiz (“dry, hard”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰerǵʰ- (“to strengthen; become hard”), from *dʰer- (“to hold, support”). The verb derives from Middle English drien, from Old English drȳġan (“to dry”), from Proto-West Germanic *drūgijan, from Proto-Germanic *drūgiz (“hard, desiccated, dry”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰerǵʰ- (“strong, hard, solid”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after dry