wry

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English[edit]

WOTD – 31 March 2012

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

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[edit]

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.

Etymology 2[edit]

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.

Verb[edit]

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.
    • Shakespeare
      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[edit]

Adjective[edit]

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

  1. Turned away, contorted (of the face or body).
    a wry mouth
  2. Dryly humorous; sardonic or ironic.
  3. Twisted, bent, crooked.
  4. Deviating from the right direction; misdirected; out of place.
    • Landor
      the wry rigour of our neighbours, who never take up an old idea without some extravagance in its application
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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