wry

Word family

wry /raɪ/ adjectiveadj [only before noun] → rai, rye

FUNNYa wry expression or wry humour shows that you know a situation is bad, but you also think it is slightly amusing 啼笑皆非的，苦笑的

‘Was it as bad as you expected?’ Travis gave a wry smile.

“那事和你想的一样糟吗？”特拉维斯苦笑着问道。

—wryly adverbadv

Examples from the Corpus

wry• Knowing this, Googol tried to be wry about his own feelings and eschewed any dandified garb such as Jaq now sported.• Perhaps, to some extent, she thought with wry amusement, she owed her professional success to Jake.• A dash of wry cynicism might have helped another woman, but that was not Franca's way.• She relaxed and told Jay about her life, with the wry humour of a survivor.• And he retains the sense of wry humour which he reckons every newspaperman needs, if only to keep him sane.• This is a delicious comedy full of wry observations and delightful fun-poking at the world of movie-making.• Somehow, he derived a strange, wry satisfaction from this thought.• a wry smile• In spite of herself, Lisa smiled a wry smile.

Origin wry

(1500-1600) wry “to twist” ((14-19 centuries)), from Old English wrigian “to turn”

Chinese

Corpus