Hypertext Webster Gateway: "wry"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Wry \Wry\, v. t. [AS. wre['o]n.]
To cover. [Obs.]
Wrie you in that mantle. --Chaucer.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Wry \Wry\, a. [Compar. {Wrier}; superl. {Wriest}.] [Akin to OE.
wrien to twist, to bend, AS. wrigian to tend towards, to
drive.]
1. Turned to one side; twisted; distorted; as, a wry mouth.
2. Hence, deviating from the right direction; misdirected;
out of place; as, wry words.
Not according to the wry rigor of our neighbors, who
never take up an old idea without some extravagance
in its application. --Landor.
3. Wrested; perverted.
He . . . puts a wry sense upon Protestant writers.
--Atterbury.
{Wry face}, a distortion of the countenance indicating
impatience, disgust, or discomfort; a grimace.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Wry \Wry\, v. i.
1. To twist; to writhe; to bend or wind.
2. To deviate from the right way; to go away or astray; to
turn side; to swerve.
This Phebus gan awayward for to wryen. --Chaucer.
How many Must murder wives much better than
themselves For wrying but a little! --Shak.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Wry \Wry\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Wried}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Wrying}.] [OE. wrien. See {Wry}, a.]
To twist; to distort; to writhe; to wrest; to vex. --Sir P.
Sidney.
Guests by hundreds, not one caring If the dear host's
neck were wried. --R. Browning.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
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}]
2: bent to one side; "a wry neck"
3: disdainfully or ironically humorous; scornful and mocking;
"his rebellion is the bitter, sardonic laughter of all
great satirists"- Frank Schoenberner; "a wry pleasure to
be...reminded of all that one is missing"- Irwin Edman
[syn: {sardonic}]
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