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Wry   /raɪ/   Listen
adjective
Wry  adj.  (compar. wryer or wrier; superl. wryest or wriest)  
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."
3.
Wrested; perverted. "He... puts a wry sense upon Protestant writers."
Wry face, a distortion of the countenance indicating impatience, disgust, or discomfort; a grimace.


verb
Wry  v. t.  To cover. (Obs.) "Wrie you in that mantle."


Wry  v. t.  (past & past part. wried; pres. part. wrying)  To twist; to distort; to writhe; to wrest; to vex. "Guests by hundreds, not one caring If the dear host's neck were wried."


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." "How many Must murder wives much better than themselves For wrying but a little!"





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Wry" Quotes from Famous Books



... mounted, Clad in cloak of Plymouth, Defied cart so base, For thief without grace, That goes to make a wry mouth. ...
— Poetical Works of Edmund Waller and Sir John Denham • Edmund Waller; John Denham
... wry hem [2] in ashes all nyzt, oer lay hem in hoot aymers [3], at morrowe [4], waisshe hem in clene water and do hem ouer the fire with clene water. see hem up and do erto oyle, garlec, hole safroun. powdour fort and salt, see ...
— The Forme of Cury • Samuel Pegge
... in the Corner, and often made wry Faces at the sudden Attack of Rheumatick Pains, with which he was often afflicted, objected strongly to Mr. Harlowe's arbitrary Usage of such a Wife, as being very unnatural. "Nay, Sir, (said ...
— Remarks on Clarissa (1749) • Sarah Fielding
... rendered the prices prohibitive, and even the tin mugs were prized as among their most precious possessions. Luka and Godfrey also dipped in their cups as an act of civility, but the latter made a wry face when it approached his lips, for the odour of the blubber was very strong, and he took an opportunity, when none of the Ostjaks were looking, to pour the contents of the tin upon the ground beside him; but to the Ostjaks ...
— Condemned as a Nihilist - A Story of Escape from Siberia • George Alfred Henty
... sin an' trouble. 'Tis some sort o' cure for the souls o' broken folk, I'm thinkin'. An' you don't mind? I'm glad o' that. You're gettin' so wonderful old yourself, Dannie, that I was a bit afeared. A baby yesterday an' a man the morrow! You're near growed up. 'Leven year old!" with a wry smile, in which was no pride, but only poignant regret. "You're near growed up." Presently he withdrew a little. "Ay," said he, gently; "you is housed an' clad an' fed. So much I've managed well enough." He paused—distraught, ...
— The Cruise of the Shining Light • Norman Duncan


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