wry
English[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Etymology 1[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 *wreyḱ- (“to turn, wrap, tie”), from *wer- (“to turn, bend”). Compare awry, wriggle.
Adjective[edit]
wry (comparative wrier or wryer, superlative wriest or wryest)
- Turned away, contorted (of the face or body).
- 1837, Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers, chapter 17:
- '"Why, you snivelling, wry-faced, puny villain," gasped old Lobbs.
- 1913, Victor Appleton, The Motion Picture Chums at Seaside Park, chapter 11:
- “Humph! Had to,” said Pep with a wry grimace.
- 1837, Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers, chapter 17:
- Dryly humorous; sardonic or bitterly ironic.
- 1871, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, The Haunted Baronet, chapter 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."
- 1871, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, The Haunted Baronet, chapter 6:
- Twisted, bent, crooked.
- Deviating from the right direction; misdirected; out of place.
- 1820, Sir Walter Scott, The Abbot, chapter 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, volume IV, Imaginary Conversations, Third Series: Dialogues of Literary Men, ch. 6—Milton and Andrew Marvel, page 155 (Google preview):
- . . . the wry rigour of our neighbours, who never take up an old idea without some extravagance in its application.
- 1820, Sir Walter Scott, The Abbot, chapter 34:
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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Verb[edit]
wry (third-person singular simple present wries, present participle wrying, simple past and past participle wried)
- (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.
- c. 1610, William Shakespeare, Cymbeline, act 5, scene 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!
- 1535, Thomas More, Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation, ch. 18:
- (obsolete, transitive) To divert; to cause to turn away.
- (transitive) To twist or contort (the body, face, etc.).
Translations[edit]
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Noun[edit]
wry
- (regional) Distortion.
Etymology 2[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 *wreyḱ- (“to turn, wrap, tie”), from *wer- (“to turn, bend”).
Verb[edit]
wry (third-person singular simple present wries, present participle wrying, simple past and past participle wried)
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
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- English terms with homophones
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *wreyḱ-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
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