Drear"y (drēr"?), a.
[Compar. Drearier (?);
superl. Dreariest.] [OE. dreori,
dreri, AS. dreórig, sad; akin to G.
traurig, and prob. to AS. dreósan to fall, Goth.
driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle,
Drowse.] 1. Sorrowful; distressful.
[Obs.] " Dreary shrieks." Spenser.
2. Exciting cheerless sensations, feelings,
or associations; comfortless; dismal; gloomy. " Dreary
shades." Dryden. "The dreary ground."
Prior.
Full many a dreary anxious hour.
Keble.
Johnson entered on his vocation in the most
dreary part of that dreary interval which separated two
ages of prosperity.
Macaulay.