dry
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
3 characters
Language
English
word origin
Source
Wiktionary
open dictionary
Access
Free
no sign-up needed
Detailed reference entry for the English word "dry", 3-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "dry" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "dry" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
dry is anEnglishadj. It means: Free from or lacking moisture. Pronounced /dɹaɪ/. It ranks #1,857 in English word frequency. Often confused with DS and DT.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dry |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adj |
| IPA | /dɹaɪ/ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #1,857 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for dry is 3 letters long, classified as anadj, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /dɹaɪ/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,857 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 21 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No frequent misspelling variants are recorded for dry in our index, suggesting the orthography either follows predictable English patterns or the word is uncommon enough that typo corpora lack signal.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "DS", "DT", "dw", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: 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; b… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is dry, spelled D-R-Y, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1Free from or lacking moisture.
- 2Unable to produce a liquid, as water, (petrochemistry) oil, or (agriculture) milk.
- 3Built without or lacking mortar.
- 4Anhydrous: free from or lacking water in any state, regardless of the presence of other liquids.
- 5Athirst, eager.
- 6Free from or lacking alcohol or alcoholic beverages.
- 7Describing an area where sales of alcoholic or strong alcoholic beverages are banned.
- 8Free from or lacking embellishment or sweetness, particularly
- 9Free from or lacking embellishment or sweetness
- 10Free from or lacking embellishment or sweetness
- 11Free from or lacking embellishment or sweetness
- 12Free from or lacking embellishment or sweetness
- 13Free from or lacking embellishment or sweetness
- 14Not using afterburners or water injection for increased thrust.
- 15Involving computations rather than work with biological or chemical matter.
- 16Free from applied audio effects (especially reverb).
- 17Without a usual complement or consummation; impotent.
- 18Without a usual complement or consummation; impotent.
- 19In a dry spell (e.g., unemployed, slow).
- 20Of a mass, service, or rite: involving neither consecration nor communion.
- 21Mixed with sauce and not served in a soup.
Etymology
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”). cognates and related terms Cognate with Scots dry, drey (“dry”), North Frisian drüg, driig, Saterland Frisian druuch (“dry”), West Frisian droech (“dry”), Dutch droog (“dry”), Low German dröög (“dry”), German dröge (“dull”), Icelandic draugur (“a dry log”). Related also to German trocken (“dry”), West Frisian drege (“long-lasting”), Danish drøj (“tough”), Swedish dryg (“lasting, hard”), Icelandic drjúgur (“ample, long”), Latin firmus (“strong, firm, stable, durable”). See also drought, drain, dree.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Frequency rank: #1,857 in English
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "dry"?
What does "dry" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "dry"?
How do you pronounce "dry"?
What is the origin of the word "dry"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter D in our English index: