drearier; dreariest
1
: feeling, displaying, or reflecting listlessness or discouragement
cheer a dreary mind—
George Berkeley
George BerkeleySynonyms
- black
- bleak
- cheerless
- chill
- Cimmerian
- cloudy
- cold
- comfortless
- dark
- darkening
- depressing
- depressive
- desolate
- dire
- disconsolate
- dismal
- drear
- dreich [chiefly Scottish]
- elegiac
- elegiacal
- forlorn
- funereal
- gloomy
- glum
- godforsaken
- gray
- grey
- lonely
- lonesome
- lugubrious
- miserable
- morbid
- morose
- murky
- plutonian
- saturnine
- sepulchral
- solemn
- somber
- sombre
- sullen
- sunless
- tenebrific
- tenebrous
- wretched
Examples of dreary in a Sentence
It was a gray, dreary morning.
The family struggled through dreary economic times.
Recent Examples on the Web
Our outlook for the Cougars took a turn for the dreary after Mark Pope left for Kentucky and took top scorer Jaxson Robinson with him.
—Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 24 June 2024
In a dreary part of downtown Atlanta, shipping containers have been transformed into an oasis for dozens of previously unsheltered people who now proudly call a former parking lot home.
—R.j. Rico and Jesse Bedayn, The Christian Science Monitor, 19 June 2024
The Panthers were up 3-0 in the first round against Tampa Bay and then lost a dreary Game 4, 6-3, before closing out the series in Game 5.
—Dave Hyde, Sun Sentinel, 16 June 2024
Overall, the style is rigid, dreary and institutional with a color palette of sickly bathwater whites.
—Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 21 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for dreary 
Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 24 June 2024
In a dreary part of downtown Atlanta, shipping containers have been transformed into an oasis for dozens of previously unsheltered people who now proudly call a former parking lot home.
—R.j. Rico and Jesse Bedayn, The Christian Science Monitor, 19 June 2024
The Panthers were up 3-0 in the first round against Tampa Bay and then lost a dreary Game 4, 6-3, before closing out the series in Game 5.
—Dave Hyde, Sun Sentinel, 16 June 2024
Overall, the style is rigid, dreary and institutional with a color palette of sickly bathwater whites.
—Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 21 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for dreary
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dreary.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near dreary
Cite this Entry
“Dreary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dreary. Accessed 15 Jul. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
dreary
adjective
drea·ry
ˈdri(ə)r-ē 
drearier
ˈdrir-ē-ər
; dreariest
: having nothing that provides cheer, comfort, or interest
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