wry

English

WOTD – 31 March 2012

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /raɪ/
• Rhymes: -aɪ
• Homophone: rye

Etymology 1

From Middle English wrien, from Old English wrīġian (“to go, turn, twist, bend, strive, struggle, press forward, endeavor, venture”), from Proto-Germanic *wrigōną (“to wriggle”), from Proto-Indo-European *wreiḱ- (“to turn, wrap, tie”), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to turn, bend”). Compare awry, wriggle.

Adjective

wry (comparative wrier or wryer, superlative wriest or wryest)

1. Turned away, contorted (of the face or body).
   • 1837, Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers, ch. 17:

     '"Why, you snivelling, wry-faced, puny villain," gasped old Lobbs.

   • 1913, Victor Appleton, The Motion Picture Chums at Seaside Park, ch. 11:

     “Humph! Had to,” said Pep with a wry grimace.

2. Dryly humorous; sardonic or bitterly ironic.
   • 1871, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, The Haunted Baronet, ch. 6:

     "[T]he master says a wry word now and then; and so ye let your spirits go down, don't ye see, and all sorts o' fancies comes into your head."

3. Twisted, bent, crooked.
4. Deviating from the right direction; misdirected; out of place.
   • 1820, Sir Walter Scott, The Abbot, ch. 34:

     Catherine hath made a wry stitch in her broidery, when she was thinking of something else than her work.

   • 1876, Walter Savage Landor, The Works and Life of Walter Savage Landor, vol. IV, Imaginary Conversations, Third Series: Dialogues of Literary Men, ch. 6—Milton and Andrew Marvel, p. 155 (Google preview):

     . . . the wry rigour of our neighbours, who never take up an old idea without some extravagance in its application.

Derived terms

• wryly
• awry

Translations

contorted

• Dutch: verdraaid (nl), verwrongen (nl)
• Finnish: poispäin kääntynyt

• German: verdreht
• Swedish: förvriden (sv), skev (sv)

dryly humorous

• Dutch: droog (nl), ironisch (nl)
• Finnish: kuiva (fi)

• German: sarkastisch (de), ironisch (de)
• Swedish: spydig (sv), syrlig (sv), ironisk (sv), torr (sv)

twisted

• Dutch: verdraaid (nl), verwrongen (nl)
• Finnish: kiero (fi), vääntynyt

• German: verdreht, gewunden (de)

Verb

wry (third-person singular simple present wries, present participle wrying, simple past and past participle wried)

1. (obsolete, intransitive) To turn (away); to swerve or deviate.
   • 1535, Thomas More, Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation, ch. 18:

     God pricketh them of his great goodness still. And the grief of this great pang pincheth them at the heart, and of wickedness they wry away.

   • circa 1610, William Shakespeare, Cymbeline, act 5, sc. 1:

     You married ones,

     If each of you should take this course, how many

     Must murder wives much better than themselves

     For wrying but a little!

2. (obsolete, transitive) To divert; to cause to turn away.
3. (transitive) To twist or contort (the body, face etc.).

Translations

to turn away

• Dutch: wegdraaien, zich (nl) afkeren

• Finnish: kääntyä pois (fi)

to divert

• Dutch: wegdraaien

• Finnish: johtaa harhaan

to twist

• Dutch: wringen (nl), verwringen (nl), verdraaien (nl)

• Finnish: vääntää (fi)

Etymology 2

From Middle English wryen, wrien, wreon, wrihen, from Old English wrēon (“to cover, clothe, envelop, conceal, hide, protect, defend”), from Proto-Germanic *wrīhaną (“to wrap, cover”), from Proto-Indo-European *wreiḱ- (“to turn, wrap, tie”), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to turn, bend”).

Verb

wry (third-person singular simple present wries, present participle wrying, simple past and past participle wried)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To cover; clothe; cover up; cloak; hide.