dreich

Meaning

Adj

1. (Midlands, North, Northern-England, Northern-Ireland, Scotland) 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.
2. (Midlands, North, Northern-England, Northern-Ireland, Scotland) Not enjoyable or interesting; boring, dull.
3. (Midlands, North, Northern-England, Northern-Ireland, Scotland) Bleak, cheerless, dismal, dreary, miserable.
4. (Midlands, North, Northern-England, Northern-Ireland, Scotland) suitably serious or solemn
5. (Midlands, North, Northern-England, Northern-Ireland, Scotland) of a person: patient, stoic, tolerant, resolute
6. (Midlands, North, Northern-England, Northern-Ireland, Scotland) Slow, sluggish; specifically, of a person: tending to delay or procrastinate (especially when paying for something).
7. (Midlands, North, Northern-England, Northern-Ireland, Scotland) Of a person: having a dejected or serious appearance or mood; dour, gloomy, moody, morose, sullen.
8. (Midlands, North, Northern-England, Northern-Ireland, Scotland) Of a task: laborious, tedious, troublesome; hence, needing concentration to understand; intricate.
9. (Midlands, North, Northern-England, Northern-Ireland, Scotland) Chiefly of rain: without pause or stop; continuous, incessant.
10. (Midlands, North, Northern-England, Northern-Ireland, Scotland) Of weather: dreary, gloomy (cold, overcast, rainy, etc.).
11. (Midlands, North, Northern-England, Northern-Ireland, Scotland, obsolete) Of a person: negotiating forcefully; driving a hard bargain.
12. (Midlands, North, Northern-England, Northern-Ireland, Scotland, obsolete) Of a place (especially a hill or mountain): difficult to get through or reach; inaccessible.

Noun

1. (Midlands, North, Northern-England, Northern-Ireland, Scotland, countable) A tedious or troublesome task; also, the most tedious or troublesome part of a task.
2. (Midlands, North, Northern-England, Northern-Ireland, Scotland, uncountable) Bleakness, gloom; specifically, gloomy (cold, overcast, rainy, etc.) weather.

Opposite of

verbose, boring, calming, nonexciting, restful, relaxing, unexciting, wearisome, slow

Synonyms

disconsolate

bleak

colorless

dark

darksome

depressing

dire

dismal

drab

drear

grim

sunless

appalling

drearsome

Translations

kasvetli

décourageant

entmutigen

depriment

trostlos

trist

morne

désolé

κακόκεφος

sombre

terne

deprimierend

abominevole

monotono

trist

☹️

Pronounced as (IPA)

/dɹiːx/

Etymology

Cognate with Old English: ġedrēog

Cognate with Icelandic: drjúgur

Cognate with Northern Frisian: drech

Cognate with Danish: drøj

Cognate with Swedish: dryg

Cognate with Saterland Frisian: drjooch

Cognate with Scots: dreich

Cognate with Western Frisian: dreech

In summary

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”)