dreich
/dɹik/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.26 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Extending for a long distance or time, especially when tedious or wearisome; long-drawn-out, protracted; also, of speech or writing: unnecessarily verbose; long-winded.
adj
Not enjoyable or interesting; boring, dull.
adj
Slow, sluggish; specifically, of a person: tending to delay or procrastinate (especially when paying for something).
adj
Of a person: having a dejected or serious appearance or mood; dour, gloomy, moody, morose, sullen.
adj
Of a task: laborious, tedious, troublesome; hence, needing concentration to understand; intricate.
Example Sentences
- "So Alec showed her the letter, 'twas long and dreich and went on and on; […]"
- "VVhen thou an' I vvere young an' ſkiegh, / An' ſtable-meals at Fairs vvere driegh, / Hovv thou vvad prance, an' ſnore, an' ſkriegh, / An' tak the road!"
- "["]My life is a bit driegh," says he, pouring out the brandy; "I see little company, and sit and twirl my thumbs, and mind upon a great day that is gone by, and weary for another great day that we all hope will be upon the road. And so here's a toast to ye: The Restoration!""
- "But he's lying i' such dree poverty,—and niver a friend to go near him,—niver a person to speak a kind word t' him."
- "Aweel, Wully was an unco praying kind o' man; a dreigh body, nane o' my kind, I never could abide the sight o' him; […]"
- "The dreichest saul could see he had sunlicht in his ee, / And there's no his marrow left in the toun."
Etymology
The adjective is borrowed from Scots dreich (“hard to bear, dreary, tedious, wearisome; interminable, long-winded; dull, uninteresting; slow, tardy; doleful, gloomy; baffling, difficult; difficult to reach, inaccessible”), from Middle English dregh, dri, drie (“burdensome; depressing, dismal; large, tall; lasting, long; long-suffering, patient; tedious; of blows: hard, heavy; of the face: unchanging, unmoved; of a person: strong, valorous”) [and other forms], from Old English *drēog, drēoh (“earnest; fit; sober”), and then probably partly: * shortened from Old English ġedrēog (“calm, quiet; sober; fit, suitable”, adjective), from ġe- (prefix forming adjectives of association or similarity) + Proto-Germanic *dreugaz (“enduring, lasting”) (from *dreuganą (“to serve, be a retainer”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrewgʰ- (“to serve one’s tribe; loyal”)); and * influenced by Old Norse drjúgr (“sufficient; excessive, very; great; strong”), from Proto-Germanic *dreugaz (see above). The noun is probably partly derived: * from the adjective; and * borrowed from Scots dreich (“dreariness, gloom”) (rare), probably from Middle English dri, drie (“annoyance, trouble; grief; period of time”) [and other forms], possibly from dri, drie (adjective) (see above). (Compare Old English ġedrēog (“seemliness; seriousness, sobriety; something appropriate or required”, noun), which did not survive into Middle English.) Cognates * German Low German drēg, drēge * Icelandic drjúgur (“ample; heavy, substantial; long”) * North Frisian drech * Old Danish drygh (modern Danish drøj (“heavy; solid, tough”)) * Old Swedish drygher (modern Swedish dryg (“ample, liberal; hard; large; lasting”)) * Saterland Frisian drjooch * Scots dreich * West Frisian dreech, drege (“extensive; long-lasting”)
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *dʰrewgʰ-, dreich, dregh, *drēog, ġedrēog, *dreugaz
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /dɹik/
- British English: /dɹiːk/
Usage
Inflected Forms
dreicher (comparative)
dreichest (superlative)
dree (alternative)
dreigh (alternative)
dreegh (alternative)
dreiches (plural)
Derived Forms
dree
dreichly