How to Use wry in a Sentence

wry

adjective
  • It’s the kind of wry tragedy that fans have come to expect from the author.
    Shannon Carlin, Time, 15 Dec. 2022
  • The wry thriller really ought to be in the running this time.
    Matthew Gilbert, BostonGlobe.com, 5 Jan. 2023
  • There was a wry smile as Beckham heard the last of the commentary, 20 years on, just the hint of a twinkle in his eye.
    New York Times, 5 Nov. 2021
  • As he was placed under arrest, a wry grin spread across his face.
    Longreads, 12 Aug. 2021
  • Always ready with a wry smile or a cheeky line, White earned the title Golden Girl.
    Joseph Coughlin, Forbes, 1 Jan. 2022
  • The prose is not quite Steinbeck’s standards, but it is filled with wry humor.
    Brian Smale, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Apr. 2021
  • The building manager seemed to sense my poor outing and gave me a wry smile.
    Jeremy Miller, Harper's Magazine, 26 Oct. 2021
  • His music has both a wry element of wit and world melancholy to it.
    San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Aug. 2022
  • This wry British humor steeps into the Wild Things’ music.
    Angie Martoccio, Rolling Stone, 28 Oct. 2022
  • Niemann, 19, cracked a wry smile in an interview after the match.
    Tom Schad, USA TODAY, 27 Sep. 2022
  • The picture is of a pastor in Tuckerman sitting on his front porch bench with a wry smile on his face.
    Arkansas Online, 1 May 2021
  • In the midst of one of the most troubled of times in world history, a little (or a lot of) comedy lends a wry levity to the tragedies of the day.
    Ed Stockly, Los Angeles Times, 31 July 2021
  • But the speaker of the House, Lindsay Hoyle, made a wry allusion to more turbulent times.
    Mark Landler, BostonGlobe.com, 12 Sep. 2022
  • Then Cronin’s wry smile disappeared, a nod to the little school with the big-time resolve trying to slay its next giant.
    Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2022
  • The Paramount+ show is a ridiculous drama that could become a wry comedy.
    Darren Franich, EW.com, 11 Nov. 2022
  • Depp spoke slowly and calmly during his time on the stand last month and made wry quips when challenged by Heard’s legal team.
    Tatiana Siegel, Rolling Stone, 4 May 2022
  • That would be Doug’s assistant, Tina, who is brought to life in a wry performance from Idara Victor.
    Nina Metz, chicagotribune.com, 17 Mar. 2022
  • There have already been Germans building rockets, Weiss says with a wry smile.
    Bruce Dorminey, Forbes, 22 Oct. 2021
  • Schenk adopts a kind of bemusement toward Zeke; Minghella has just the wry expressions to sell it.
    Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 12 May 2021
  • Medley is, if not a great writer, certainly a compelling one, with a clear voice and a kind of wry humor that creeps up on you.
    BostonGlobe.com, 4 Aug. 2021
  • All became the grist for her dark satire, laced with wry, aphoristic asides on the human condition.
    Alan Cowell, New York Times, 4 Jan. 2023
  • Fey is a delight in this sequence, her wry pompousness accented with a wink.
    Lauren Puckett-Pope, ELLE, 28 June 2022
  • Munro’s characters are drawn from the upper classes, and his prose is droll in the British way—wry and epigrammatic.
    The New Yorker, 28 June 2021
  • This album release from the Stones has, on a number of occasions, brought a wry smile to my face and no doubt would continue to do so.
    Liza Lentini, SPIN, 9 Sep. 2022
  • Watts was wry and rock-steady in both his playing and his personality.
    Jem Aswad, Variety, 24 Aug. 2021
  • But while Bechdel is adept at wry humor, lightness isn’t exactly her thing.
    Heller McAlpin, The Christian Science Monitor, 10 May 2021
  • Indeed, the wry humor Talati credits Parsi people with shines through from across the book’s pages.
    Lara Johnson-Wheeler, Vogue, 5 Jan. 2023
  • This wry observation provides the background to Thomas’s work ethic — nose to the grindstone, stay focused, and do what needs to be done.
    Martha Anne Toll, Washington Post, 15 Dec. 2022
  • The jokes were wry and nihilistic, disguising a heartfelt earnestness at the story’s core.
    Travis M. Andrews, Washington Post, 7 Feb. 2023
  • Wet Leg’s general bearing is wry, playful and focused on pleasure.
    Wsj Arts, WSJ, 6 Feb. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wry.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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