# wry

Pronunciation: say "RY" /ɹaɪ/

## Adjective

1. Humorous in a dry way, sometimes with a mocking or bitterly ironic edge.
   - Simple: Funny in a quiet, dry way, sometimes with a bitter feeling underneath.
   - _The memoir is full of wry observations about growing up in a small town._
   - _With wry amusement, he noted that the meeting about saving time had run two hours over._
2. Of the face or body, twisted out of its usual shape or turned aside.
   - Simple: Of a face or body, twisted or turned to one side.
   - _She pulled a wry face at the first sip of the bitter tea._
   - _He pulled a wry face at the bitter medicine and pushed the glass away._
3. Turned away from the right direction; misdirected or out of place.
   - Simple: Going the wrong way, or not in the right place.

## Verb

4. To turn away or aside, or to turn something away or aside; to swerve, stray, or divert from the proper course. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To turn away or to one side, or to make something turn away from its usual path.
5. To cover or clothe something, or to cover it up and hide it. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To cover something, put clothes on it, or hide it.

## Other meanings

- (adjective) Bent or twisted out of a straight line; crooked.
- (verb) To twist or contort something, such as the face or body.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–4** — *wreyḱ-, a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to turn, wrap, tie," led to Proto-Germanic *wrigōną ("to wriggle") and then to Old English wrīġian, meaning "to go, turn, twist, bend, strive." This became Middle English wrien. Awry and wriggle are comparable words.
**Meaning 5** — Old English wrēon meant "to cover, clothe, envelop." It came from Proto-Germanic *wrīhaną, meaning "to wrap, cover," which goes back to *wreyḱ- ("to turn, wrap, tie") in Proto-Indo-European, and it became Middle English wryen.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/wry (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).