Library / English Dictionary

DRYNESS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Objectivity and detachment

Example:

her manner assumed a dispassion and dryness very unlike her usual tone

Synonyms:

dispassion; dispassionateness; dryness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("dryness" is a kind of...):

emotionlessness; unemotionality (absence of emotion)

Derivation:

dry (lacking warmth or emotional involvement)

dry (humorously sarcastic or mocking)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Moderation in or abstinence from alcohol or other drugs

Synonyms:

dryness; sobriety

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("dryness" is a kind of...):

moderation; temperance (the trait of avoiding excesses)

Derivation:

dry (practicing complete abstinence from alcoholic beverages)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The condition of not containing or being covered by a liquid (especially water)

Synonyms:

dryness; waterlessness; xerotes

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("dryness" is a kind of...):

condition; status (a state at a particular time)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dryness"):

dehydration; desiccation (dryness resulting from the removal of water)

drought; drouth (a shortage of rainfall)

aridity; aridness; thirstiness (a deficiency of moisture (especially when resulting from a permanent absence of rainfall))

sereness (a withered dryness)

conjunctivitis arida; xeroma; xerophthalmia; xerophthalmus (abnormal dryness of the conjunctiva and cornea of the eyes; may be due to a systemic deficiency of vitamin A)

dry mouth; xerostomia (abnormal dryness of the mouth resulting from decreased secretion of saliva)

Antonym:

wetness (the condition of containing or being covered by a liquid (especially water))

Derivation:

dry (without a mucous or watery discharge)

dry (not shedding tears)

dry (free from liquid or moisture; lacking natural or normal moisture or depleted of water; or no longer wet)

dry (not producing milk)

dry (lacking moisture or volatile components)

Credits

 Context examples: 

He paused—and growing cooler in a moment, added, with only sarcastic dryness, If Mr. Perry can tell me how to convey a wife and five children a distance of an hundred and thirty miles with no greater expense or inconvenience than a distance of forty, I should be as willing to prefer Cromer to South End as he could himself.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

The charges against the said brother John are the following, namely, to wit: First, that on the above-mentioned Feast of the Assumption, small beer having been served to the novices in the proportion of one quart to each four, the said brother John did drain the pot at one draught to the detriment of brother Paul, brother Porphyry and brother Ambrose, who could scarce eat their none-meat of salted stock-fish on account of their exceeding dryness.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)