wry
adjective
- drily humorous
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ɹaɪ/
adj
Etymology: 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.
- Turned away, contorted (of the face or body).
“'"Why, you snivelling, wry-faced, puny villain," gasped old Lobbs.”
““Humph! Had to,” said Pep with a wry grimace.”
- Dryly humorous; sardonic or ironic, usually in a way that suggests acknowledgement of a problem or difficult situation.
“"[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."”
- Twisted, bent, crooked.
- Deviating from the right direction; misdirected; out of place.
“Catherine hath made a wry stitch in her broidery, when she was thinking of something else than her work.”
“. . . the wry rigour of our neighbours, who never take up an old idea without some extravagance in its application.”
noun
Etymology: 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.
- Distortion.
verb
Etymology: From Middle English wryen, wrien, wreon, wrihen, from Old English wrēon (“to cover, clothe, envelop”), from Proto-West Germanic *wrīhan, from Proto-Germanic *wrīhaną (“to wrap, cover”), from Proto-Indo-European *wreyḱ- (“to turn, wrap, tie”), from *wer- (“to turn, bend”).
- To cover; clothe; cover up; cloak; hide.