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Added 10 October 2026

dreich

/dɹiːk/ adjective

adjective Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about dreich at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

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.
:
Not enjoyable or interesting; boring, dull.
Bleak, cheerless, dismal, dreary, miserable.

noun

A tedious or troublesome task; also, the most tedious or troublesome part of a task.
Bleakness, gloom; specifically, gloomy (cold, overcast, rainy, etc.) weather.

Origin

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) +.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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