dreary

/ˈdriri/

/ˈdrɪri/

Other forms: dreariest; drearier

When something is dreary it's depressing or lifeless in a rainy-day way. I finished my work, there was nothing on TV, and the rain just wouldn't stop: what a dreary day!

Dreary can refer to a feeling, a place, a time, or even a thing. It sounds a little like a combination of "drizzle" and "teary," and that's not a bad way to remember what it means. My grandmother's house was a dreary affair: run down, poorly lit, and silent but for the buzz of the fluorescent light in the cramped kitchen. Some might call the recession a depression: I call it dreary, either way. If the economy remains dreary like this much longer, I just might move to China.

Definitions of dreary

1. adjective

   lacking in liveliness or charm or surprise
   “a series of dreary dinner parties”

   synonyms: drab

   dull

   lacking in liveliness or animation
2. adjective

   causing dejection
   synonyms: blue, dark, dingy, disconsolate, dismal, drab, drear, gloomy, grim, sorry

   cheerless, depressing, uncheerful

   causing sad feelings of gloom and inadequacy