wry
Americanadjective
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bitterly or disdainfully ironic or amusing.
a wry remark.
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produced by a distortion or lopsidedness of the facial features.
a wry grin.
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abnormally bent or turned to one side; contorted; crooked.
a wry mouth.
- Antonyms:
- straight
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devious in course or purpose; misdirected.
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distorted or perverted, as in meaning.
adjective
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twisted, contorted, or askew
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(of a facial expression) produced or characterized by contorting of the features, usually indicating dislike
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drily humorous; sardonic
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warped, misdirected, or perverse
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(of words, thoughts, etc) unsuitable or wrong
verb
Usage
What does wry mean? Wry commonly means humorous in a way that’s very “dry,” irreverent, ironic, sarcastic, or sardonic. The sense of word is especially used in the terms wry humor and wry wit.This sense of wry is a figurative extension of its literal sense, which means crooked, lopsided, contorted, or distorted. It can also mean contrary or perverse.A wry smile and a wry expression are probably both somewhat contorted and intended to indicate a sense of irony or sarcasm. You might give a wry smile after telling a particularly wry joke (the kind of joke that’s so dry that it’s hard to tell whether it’s a joke).The related word awry can be used as an adverb form of wry or as an adjective meaning wrong in some way (amiss) or slanted or twisted (askew).Example: It takes a while to get used to her wry sense of humor, but she’s not as cynical as she sounds.
Other Word Forms
- wryly adverb
- wryness noun
Etymology
Origin of wry
First recorded in 1515–25; adjective use of obsolete verb wry “to twist,” Middle English wryen, Old English wrīgian “to go, strive, tend, swerve”; cognate with Dutch wrijgen “to twist”; akin to Old English wrigels, Latin rīcula “veil,” Greek rhoikós “crooked”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
And two Americans: Kenyon, a wry, observant, skeptical humanist sculptor, perhaps a stand-in for Hawthorne himself; and Hilda, a New England Puritan painter—self-possessed, pious, unswervingly loyal, pure as a flight of doves.
Jayes is also on the parish council "for my sins", he says with a wry smile.
From BBC
In Mr. Barnett’s hands, “Rumpelstiltskin” has undergone a very light refurbishing, keeping the original plot mostly intact with the welcome addition of the author’s trademark wry humor.
When asked about his acting technique, Duvall would describe it as simply as his favorite character — Augustus McCrae, the wry trail boss on the TV miniseries “Lonesome Dove” — might have described riding a horse.
From Los Angeles Times
Dr. Daniels writes with verve and wit—wry and dry.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
