drear

== English == === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /dɹɪə/ (General American) IPA(key): /dɹɪɚ/, /dɹɪɹ/ (New Zealand) IPA(key): /dɹiə/ (Scotland) IPA(key): /dɹiːɹ/ (East Anglia, cheer–chair merger) IPA(key): /dɹɛː/ Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ) === Etymology 1 === Shortening of dreary. ==== Adjective ==== drear (comparative drearer, superlative drearest) (poetic, literary) Dreary. Synonyms: bleak, dreary; see also Thesaurus:cheerless 1794, William Blake, Earth's Answer, lines 1-2 Earth raised up her headFrom the darkness dread and drear, ===== Derived terms ===== === Etymology 2 === Back-formation from dreary. Compare greed. ==== Noun ==== drear (plural drears) (obsolete) Gloom; sadness. ===== Alternative forms ===== dreare === Anagrams === Rader, arder, arred, darer, rared, rear'd, reard