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wry(1) (iou)



wry adjective & adverb. Compar. wryer, wrier. Superl. wryest, wriest. E16.
[from WRY verb1.]
A. adjective.
Of the features, neck, etc.: turned to one side, contorted, distorted; spec. (of the face, a look, etc.) twisted or contorted as a manifestation of dislike, disgust, disappointment, or (now freq.) quiet or sardonic amusement. E16.
make a wry mouth: see MOUTH noun.
J. Agee A hen, with a wry neck which could never be straightened. A. S. Neill Over the beer she made a wry face, and said, 'Nasty!' Times The laudatory article..must have brought a wry smile to the face of many a jet-lagged businessman.
b. transf. Drily or obliquely humorous; sardonic, ironic. E20.
E. O'Neill He smiles with a wry amusement. Times Literary Supplement Sharp, often wry, accounts of human relationships about to go wrong.
a. That has been twisted; wrung out of shape; crooked, bent. M16.
b. Deflected from a straight course; inclined or turned to one side. Now rare exc. as passing into sense 1. L16.
F. Atterbury Every wry Step..from the Path of Duty.
Perverted; unfair, unjust. Now rare. M16.
Of words, thoughts, etc.: aberrant, wrong; cross. arch. L16.
Sir W. Scott Art thou not a hasty coxcomb, to pick up a wry word so wrathfully?
b. adverb. Obliquely; awry. L16.
Comb.: wrybill, wry-billed plover a small New Zealand plover, Anarhynchus frontalis, which has a bill that bends to the right; wry-faced adjective (a) having the face out of line with the neck and chest; (b) that makes a wry face; wry-tail a congenital deformity of dogs, poultry, etc., characterized by a tail that is crooked or deflected to one side.
wryness noun L16.