Drear″y (drēr″y̆), 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. “ 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.