different between dusky vs dreary

English

Etymology

dusk +? -y

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d?s.ki/
• Rhymes: -?ski

Adjective

dusky (comparative duskier, superlative duskiest)

1. Dimly lit, as at dusk (evening).
2. Having a shade of color that is rather dark.

3. (dated, literary) Dark-skinned.
4. Ashen; having a greyish skin coloration.

Synonyms

• (dark-skinned): black, inky, sable, sooty, swarthy

Translations

Noun

dusky (plural duskies)

1. A dusky shark.
2. A dusky dolphin.
3. A dusky grouse.

English

Etymology

From Middle English drery, from Old English dr?ori? (“sad”), from Proto-Germanic *dreuzagaz (“bloody”), from Proto-Indo-European *d?rews- (“to break, break off, crumble”), equivalent to drear +? -y. Cognate with Dutch treurig (“sad, gloomy”), Low German trurig (“sad”), German traurig (“sad, sorrowful, mournful”), Old Norse dreyrigr (“bloody”). Related to Old English dr?or (“blood, falling blood”), Old English drysmian (“to become gloomy”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?d???i/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?d????i/
• Rhymes: -???i, -??i

Adjective

dreary (comparative drearier or more dreary, superlative dreariest or most dreary)

1. Drab; dark, colorless, or cheerless.

   It had rained for three days straight, and the dreary weather dragged the townspeople's spirits down.

   Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary...
2. (obsolete) Grievous, dire; appalling.

Derived terms

• drear
• drearihead
• drearihood
• drearily
• dreariment
• dreariness
• drearisome

Translations

Anagrams

• Ardrey, Drayer, yarder, yarred