drylyadv.
/ˈdrʌɪli/, U.S. /ˈdraɪli/ 1. In a dry manner or state; without moisture.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > dryness > [adverb]
dryly1562
adry1578
1562 J. Heywood Sixt Hundred Epigrammes xcvii, in Wks. sig. Ddivv Walke thou weatly, walke thou dryly.
a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) i. i. 158 Your old virginity, is like one of our French wither'd peares, it lookes ill, it eates drily . View more context for this quotation
2. Without emotion, sympathy, or cordiality, coldly, frigidly: see dry adj. 13.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > absence of emotion > [adverb] > with emotional detachment
dry1513
squeamishly1571
queamishly1594
dryly1622
unconcernedly1636
aloofly1891
1622 F. Bacon Hist. Raigne Henry VII 198 Conscious to himselfe, how driely the King had beene used by his Councell.
1693 J. Dryden tr. Juvenal in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires i. 7 Virtue is but dryly Prais'd, and Sterves.
1809 G. Rose Diaries (1860) II. 392 Saying drily, but civilly, that he should come.
1861 G. Wilson & A. Geikie Mem. E. Forbes iv. 115 His sympathy was but dryly expressed.
3. With quiet sarcasm or caustic humour: see dry adj. 14.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > derision, ridicule, or mockery > caustic or ironic ridicule > [adverb]
dryly1430
ironiously1532
ironically1535
satirically1590
Lucianically1592
sarcastically1647
sarcasmically1658
sarcasmatically1716
sardonically1842
caustically1850
to put, or speak with, one's tongue in one's cheek1928
sarkily1967
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > intelligence, cleverness > wit, wittiness > wit with words > sarcasm > [adverb]
dryly1430
sarcastically1647
sarcasmically1658
sarcasmatically1716
sarkily1967
1430 J. Lydgate tr. Hist. Troy ii. xvi He was bouerdyng all the long daye..So dryely that no man might espye So sober he was in his countenaunce.
1592 T. Nashe Pierce Penilesse (Brit. Libr. copy) sig. E A iolly lustie olde Gentleman, that will wink, and laugh, and iest drily.
1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth vii, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. I. 166 ‘You saw me, neighbour Glover, at the beginning of the fray?’ ‘I saw you after the end of it, neighbour,’ answered the Glover, drily.
1839 H. Hallam Introd. Lit. Europe IV. i. 112 The style of Bentley..[was] sometimes humorous and drily sarcastic.
4. In a bare or plain style, without embellishment, baldly; in a dull or uninteresting style or manner: see dry adj. 16 – 18.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > plainness > [adverb]
aefauldlyOE
plainlyc1385
simply?c1400
nakedlya1535
simple1550
inornatelya1568
spruce?1605
dryly1635
chastely1815
unadornedly1820
inelaborately1846
in words of one syllable1922
1635 J. Hayward tr. G. F. Biondi Donzella Desterrada 103 Which for being so drily written, made them..desirous to know the occasion.
1711 A. Pope Ess. Crit. 9 Some dryly plain..Write dull Receits how Poems may be made.
1759 O. Goldsmith Bee 24 Nov. 246 The poet either drily didactive..or triflingly volatile.
1836 R. Whately Christian Evid. xi The miracles..are all related briefly, calmly, and dryly, and almost with an air of indifference.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.1430