wry

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“
But he could also be hilariously funny; recall his wry, brief turns in

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Definitions (23)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (4)

  1. adjective Dryly humorous, often with a touch of irony.
  2. adjective Temporarily twisted in an expression of distaste or displeasure: made a wry face.
  3. adjective Abnormally twisted or bent to one side; crooked: a wry nose.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (12)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (5)

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Examples (50)

  • Sanders's prose and dialogue is wry, and funny, and serious, and gripping. —  F ;SF; - vol 097 issue 04-05 - October-November 1999
  • A wry, almost self-mocking smile hovered around her mouth. —  The Mistress's Secret
  • His wry, answering smile cut through my defenses, and I bit my lip, afraid I'd cry. —  Muller, Marcia - [20] - While Other People Sleep
  • His mouth would be wry, his eyes troubled, his brow furrowed. —  Janice Kay Johnson - The Family Next Door
  • An album full of wry, breezy indie-pop tunes, here with fellow Swede Karolina Komstedt of Club —  Comments for BrightestYoungThings
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

rueful ·  sardonic ·  self-deprecating ·  sarcastic ·  derisive ·  sly ·  bemused ·  dismissive ·  impish ·  good-humored ·  lopsided ·  wistful
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (4)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. From Middle English wrien, to turn, from Old English wrīgian; see wer-2 in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (3)

  1. from Middle English wrien, wryen, from Anglo-Saxon wrigian, drive, tend, turn, bend. Cf. wrick, wrig, wriggle. Hence wry, adjective, awry.
  2. from wry, v. Cf. awry.
  3. from Middle English wryen, wrien, wreon, from Anglo-Saxon wreón, *wrīhan, Old Northumbrian wrīa (past participle wrigen), cover, clothe. Cf. rig.
 

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