adj

dry

DREYE

adj

Free from moisture; not wet.

"Make sure the paint is completely dry before hanging the picture."

"The desert air was hot and dry all afternoon."

Lacking or forbidding alcohol.

"They held a dry wedding reception with no alcohol served."

"The county stayed dry long after Prohibition ended elsewhere."

Not sweet, especially describing wine.

"He prefers a dry white wine with fish."

Amusing in a deadpan, understated way; also, plainly boring.

"Her dry sense of humour caught the whole room off guard."

"The lecture was so dry that half the class fell asleep."

verb

To remove moisture from something, or to lose moisture.

"Hang the towels outside to dry in the sun."

"The riverbed dries up completely by late summer."

noun

A period or region with little or no rainfall.

"Farmers struggled through the long dry that summer."

How to Use Dry

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishWithout water or moisture — and, by extension, without alcohol, sweetness, or emotional expression (as in dry humour).

Common pairings

bone dry dry sense of humour dry spell dry wine

Word Forms

drier comparative, dryer comparative, DRYer comparative, dried past tense, DRYed past tense, drys plural, dries plural, dry plural, dried plural, Drys plural, dries singular, dry singular, dried singular, driest singular, drieth singular, DRYs singular, driest superlative, dryest superlative, DRYest superlative

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Fill the Gap

Can you complete this real example?

Make sure the paint is completely _____ before hanging the picture.

Etymology

From Old English drȳge, related to Old Norse and German words meaning "dry" or "hard" — going back to a very old root meaning "to become firm or solid".

Synonyms

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anhydrous arid bone dry droughty dry as a bone exsuccous parched sare sear sere unmoist waterless

Antonyms

wet

Related Words

kill beautiful arid wet char thirsty sear parched

Rhymes for dry

tawdry sundry Landry laundry foundry wizardry

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