From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Dreary \Drear"y\ (dr[=e]r"[y^]), a. [Compar. {Drearier}; superl.
{Dreariest}.] [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dre['o]rig, sad; akin
to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dre['o]san to fall, Goth.
driusan. Cf. {Dross}, {Drear}, {Drizzle}, {Drowse}.]
1. Sorrowful; distressful. [Obs.] " Dreary shrieks."
--Spenser.
[1913 Webster]
2. Exciting cheerless sensations, feelings, or associations;
comfortless; dismal; gloomy. " Dreary shades." --Dryden.
"The dreary ground." --Prior.
[1913 Webster]
Full many a dreary anxious hour. --Keble.
[1913 Webster]
Johnson entered on his vocation in the most dreary
part of that dreary interval which separated two
ages of prosperity. --Macaulay.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
dreary
adj 1: lacking in liveliness or charm or surprise; "her drab
personality"; "life was drab compared with the more
exciting life style overseas"; "a series of dreary dinner
parties" [syn: {drab}, {dreary}]
2: causing dejection; "a blue day"; "the dark days of the war";
"a week of rainy depressing weather"; "a disconsolate winter
landscape"; "the first dismal dispiriting days of November";
"a dark gloomy day"; "grim rainy weather" [syn: {blue},
{dark}, {dingy}, {disconsolate}, {dismal}, {gloomy}, {grim},
{sorry}, {drab}, {drear}, {dreary}]
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