FromMiddle Englishwrien, fromOld Englishwrīġian(“to go, turn, twist, bend, strive, struggle, press forward, endeavor, venture”), fromProto-Germanic*wrigōną(“to wriggle”), fromProto-Indo-European*wreyḱ-(“to turn, wrap, tie”), from*wer-(“to turn, bend”). Compareawry,wriggle.
wry (comparativewrierorwryer,superlativewriestorwryest)
- Turned away,contorted (of the face or body).
1836 March –1837 October,Charles Dickens, chapter 17, inThe Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London:Chapman and Hall, […], published1837,→OCLC:'"Why, you snivelling,wry-faced, puny villain," gasped old Lobbs.
1913,Victor Appleton, “chapter 11”, inThe Motion Picture Chums at Seaside Park:“Humph! Had to,” said Pep with awry grimace.
- Dryly humorous;sardonic orbitterlyironic.
1871,Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, “chapter 6”, inThe Haunted Baronet:"[T]he master says awry word now and then; and so ye let your spirits go down, don't ye see, and all sorts o' fancies comes into your head."
- Twisted,bent,crooked.
- Deviating from the right direction;misdirected;out of place.
1820, [Walter Scott], chapter XXXIV, inThe Abbot. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] forLongman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and forArchibald Constable and Company, andJohn Ballantyne, […],→OCLC,page218:Catherine hath made awry stitch in her broidery, when she was thinking of something else than her work.
- 1876,Walter Savage Landor,The Works and Life of Walter Savage Landor, volume IV, Imaginary Conversations, Third Series: Dialogues of Literary Men, ch. 6—Milton and Andrew Marvel,page 155 (Google preview):
. . . thewry rigour of our neighbours, who never take up an old idea without some extravagance in its application.
wry (third-person singular simple presentwries,present participlewrying,simple past and past participlewried)
- (obsolete, intransitive) Toturn (away); toswerve ordeviate.
1535,Thomas More, chapter 18, inDialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation:God pricketh them of his great goodness still. And the grief of this great pang pincheth them at the heart, and of wickedness theywry away.
1611 April (first recorded performance),William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act V, scene i]:You married ones,
If each of you should take this course, how many
Must murder wives much better than themselves
Forwrying but a little!
- (obsolete, transitive) Todivert; to cause to turn away.
- (transitive) Totwist orcontort (the body, face, etc.).
wry
- (regional)Distortion.
FromMiddle Englishwryen,wrien,wreon,wrihen, fromOld Englishwrēon(“to cover, clothe, envelop”), fromProto-West Germanic*wrīhan, fromProto-Germanic*wrīhaną(“to wrap, cover”), fromProto-Indo-European*wreyḱ-(“to turn, wrap, tie”), from*wer-(“to turn, bend”).
wry (third-person singular simple presentwries,present participlewrying,simple past and past participlewried)
- (transitive, obsolete) Tocover;clothe;cover up;cloak;hide.
