wry
from
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
wry
adj 1: humorously sarcastic or mocking; "dry humor"; "an ironic
remark often conveys an intended meaning obliquely"; "an
ironic novel"; "an ironical smile"; "with a wry Scottish
wit" [syn: {dry}, {ironic}, {ironical}, {wry}]
2: bent to one side; "a wry neck"
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Wry \Wry\, a. [Compar. {Wrier}; superl. {Wriest}.] [Akin to OE.
wrien to twist, to bend, AS. wrigian to tend towards, to
drive.]
[1913 Webster]
1. Turned to one side; twisted; distorted; as, a wry mouth.
[1913 Webster]
2. Hence, deviating from the right direction; misdirected;
out of place; as, wry words.
[1913 Webster]
Not according to the wry rigor of our neighbors, who
never take up an old idea without some extravagance
in its application. --Landor.
[1913 Webster]
3. Wrested; perverted.
[1913 Webster]
He . . . puts a wry sense upon Protestant writers.
--Atterbury.
[1913 Webster]
{Wry face}, a distortion of the countenance indicating
impatience, disgust, or discomfort; a grimace.
[1913 Webster]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Wry \Wry\, v. i.
1. To twist; to writhe; to bend or wind.
[1913 Webster]
2. To deviate from the right way; to go away or astray; to
turn side; to swerve.
[1913 Webster]
This Phebus gan awayward for to wryen. --Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
How many
Must murder wives much better than themselves
For wrying but a little! --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
from
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
23 Moby Thesaurus words for "wry":
agee, agee-jawed, askance, askant, askew, askewgee, asquint, awry,
catawampous, catawamptious, cockeyed, crooked, cynical, ironic,
skew, skew-jawed, skewed, slaunchways, squinting, wamper-jawed,
wrest, wring, yaw-ways
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