dreich
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Slow, sluggish; specifically, of a person: tending to delay or procrastinate (especially when paying for something).
Of a person: having a dejected or serious appearance or mood; dour, gloomy, moody, morose, sullen.
Of a task: laborious, tedious, troublesome; hence, needing concentration to understand; intricate.
Chiefly of rain: without pause or stop; continuous, incessant.
Of weather: dreary, gloomy (cold, overcast, rainy, etc.).
(obsolete)
English
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”),[1] 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”) ,[2] from Old English *drēog, drēoh (“earnest; fit; sober”), and then probably partly:[3]
- 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;[4] and
- borrowed from Scots dreich (“dreariness, gloom”) (rare),[1] probably from Middle English dri, drie (“annoyance, trouble; grief; period of time”) , possibly from dri, drie (adjective) (see above).[5]
(Compare Old English ġedrēog (“seemliness; seriousness, sobriety; something appropriate or required”, noun), which did not survive into Middle English.)[4]
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”)
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /dɹiːk/, /dɹiːx/
- (General American) IPA(key): /dɹik/
Audio (General American): (file) - (Scotland) IPA(key): /drix/
- (Ireland) IPA(key): /ðreː/, /driːx/
- Rhymes: -iːk, -iːx
Adjective
dreich (comparative dreicher, superlative dreichest) (Northern England, North Midlands, 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.
- (long-winded): Synonyms: see Thesaurus:verbose
- (long-winded): Antonyms: see Thesaurus:concise
- 1932, Lewis Grassic Gibbon [pseudonym; James Leslie Mitchell], “Epilude: The Unfurrowed Field”, in Ian Campbell, editor, Sunset Song: A Novel (A Scots Quair; 1), Edinburgh: Polygon, Birlinn, published 2006, →ISBN, page 234:
- So Alec showed her the letter, 'twas long and dreich and went on and on; […]
- Not enjoyable or interesting; boring, dull.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:boring
- Antonyms: see Thesaurus:exciting
- 1786, Robert Burns, “The Auld Farmer’s New-year Morning Salutation to His Auld Mare, Maggie, on Giving Her the Accustomed Ripp of Corn to Hansel in the New-year”, in Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. , 2nd edition, volume I, Edinburgh: T Cadell, , and William Creech, , published 1793, →OCLC, page 198:
- 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!
- 1886 May 1 – July 31, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Cluny’s Cage”, in Kidnapped, being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751: , London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 1886, →OCLC, page 225:
- ["]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!"
- Bleak, cheerless, dismal, dreary, miserable.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:cheerless
- 1863, [Elizabeth] Gaskell, “Wedding Raiment”, in Sylvia’s Lovers. , volume II, London: Smith, Elder and Co., , →OCLC, page 278:
- 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.
- 1889, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Summary of Events (continued)”, in The Master of Ballantrae. , London, Paris: Cassell & Company, , →OCLC, page 22:
- Aweel, Wully was an unco praying kind o' man; a dreigh body, nane o' my kind, I never could abide the sight o' him; […]
1932, Lewis Grassic Gibbon [pseudonym; James Leslie Mitchell], “Epilude: The Unfurrowed Field”, in Ian Campbell, editor, Sunset Song: A Novel (A Scots Quair; 1), Edinburgh: Polygon, Birlinn, published 2006, →ISBN, page 235:
- It looked a dreich, cold place as you rode by at night, near as lonesome as the old Mill was, and not near as handy.
1941 January, C[uthbert] Hamilton Ellis, “The Scottish Station”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 3:
- There are many other species of Scottish station, from geranium-hung coastal termini to dreich places in the Black Country, but a concluding note must be reached, and it shall concern Glasgow.
2004 June 3, Susan Hill, chapter 1, in The Various Haunts of Men (A Simon Serrailler Crime Novel), London: Chatto & Windus, →ISBN, page 4:
- Angela Randall was not afraid of the dark, but driving home at this dreich hour and at the end of a difficult shift, she found the ectoplasmic fog unnerving.
2020 February 11, Douglas Stuart, chapter 25, in Shuggie Bain, New York, N.Y.: Grove Press, →ISBN, page 336:
- On dreich days Shuggie would take Agnes's wedding album and hide at the foot of her bed poring over the photos of his father.
- Synonyms: dilatory, tardy; see also Thesaurus:slow
- Antonyms: see Thesaurus:speedy
- 1818 July 25, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter IV, in Tales of My Landlord, Second Series, (The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume III, Edinburgh: [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Company, →OCLC, page 88:
- What think ye o' yon bonny hill yonder, lifting its brow to the moon? […] [M]aybe we will win there the night yet, God sain us, though our minny [a horse] here's rather driegh in the upgang.
- 1914, Neil Munro, “A Call to the North”, in The New Road, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, page 53:
- I have the bills o' men like Keppoch and Glengarry flourishing about the Lowlands in the place o' paper money; they're aye gettin' a' the dreicher at the payin', but whatever comes o't I have got them in my grasp.
- 1819, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter VIII, in Tales of My Landlord, Third Series. , volume III (The Bride of Lammermoor), Edinburgh: [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, ; Hurst, Robinson, and Co. , →OCLC, page 114:
- There they are that were capering on their prancing nags four days since, and they are now ganging as driegh and sober as oursells the day.
- Synonyms: burdensome, taxing, toilsome
- , Lewis Grassic Gibbon [pseudonym; James Leslie Mitchell], “Forsaken”, in Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Hugh MacDiarmid [pseudonym; Christopher Murray Grieve], Scottish Scene or The Intelligent Man’s Guide to Albyn, London; Melbourne: National Book Association; Hutchinson & Co., →OCLC, 4th section, page 149:
- Right above your head some thing towered up with branching arms in the flow of the lights; and you saw that it was a cross of stone, overlaid with curlecues, strange, dreich signs, like the banners of the Roman robbers of men whom you'd preached against in Zion last night.
- Synonyms: persistent, sustained, unceasing, unending, unremitting; see also Thesaurus:continuous
- a. 1931 (date written), D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “A Hay Hut among the Mountains”, in Warren Roberts, Harry T. Moore, editors, Phoenix II: Uncollected, Unpublished, and Other Prose Works by D. H. Lawrence , Viking Compass edition, New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, published 1970, →ISBN, part I (Stories and Sketches), page 43:
- So, after two hours' running downhill, we came out in the level valley at Glashütte. It was raining now, a thick dree rain.
- 1863, [Elizabeth] Gaskell, “The Engagement”, in Sylvia’s Lovers. , volume II, London: Smith, Elder and Co., , →OCLC, page 40:
- To be sure, t' winter's been a dree season, and thou'rt, maybe, in the right on't to make a late start.
- 1969, George Mackay Brown, “Rackwick”, in An Orkney Tapestry, London: Victor Gollancz, →OCLC, page 40:
- Days are dreicher than January. / A dead lamb is dropped in the thaw. / Yet now we are glad / For all things turn to the sun.
- 1992, Ian Rankin, “Up the River”, in Strip Jack (A Thomas Dunne Book), 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, published 1994, →ISBN, page 97:
- Burglary with violent assault: just the thing for a dreich Thursday morning.
- 2023 November 29, Paul Clifton, “West is Best in the Highlands”, in Rail, number 997, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 39:
- Up here, it’s a ‘dreich’ day with steady drizzle. Deep drainage channels either side of the track are already more like streams: Rannoch Moor is a wet place.
- Of a person: negotiating forcefully; driving a hard bargain.
- Of a place (especially a hill or mountain): difficult to get through or reach; inaccessible.
Alternative forms
Derived terms
Translations
extending for a long distance or time, especially when tedious or wearisome — see long-drawn-out, protracted
of speech or writing: unnecessarily verbose — see long-winded
slow, sluggish — see slow
of a person: tending to delay or procrastinate — see dilatory
needing concentration to understand — see intricate
Noun
dreich (countable and uncountable, plural dreiches)
- (countable, Northern England, North Midlands) A tedious or troublesome task; also, the most tedious or troublesome part of a task.
- (uncountable, Scotland) Bleakness, gloom; specifically, gloomy (cold, overcast, rainy, etc.) weather.
Translations
tedious or troublesome task; most tedious or troublesome part of a task
gloomy weather — see bad weather
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 “dreich, adj.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, reproduced from W Grant and D D. Murison, editors, The Scottish National Dictionary, Edinburgh: Scottish National Dictionary Association, 1931–1976, →OCLC.
- ^ “drī(e, adj.(2)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
- ^ “dreich, adj.”, in OED Online
, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2023; “dreich, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 “dreich, n.”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, July 2023.
- ^ “drī(e, n.(2)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Further reading
- Joseph Wright, editor (1900), “DREE, adj.”, in The English Dialect Dictionary: , volume II (D–G), London: Henry Frowde, , publisher to the English Dialect Society, ; New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, →OCLC, pages 166–167.
Anagrams
Irish
Noun
dreich f sg
Mutation
| radical | lenition | eclipsis |
|---|---|---|
| dreich | dhreich | ndreich |
Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.
Further reading
- Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “dreich”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
Scots
Etymology
From Middle English dregh, from Old English ġedrēog, *drēog, from Proto-West Germanic *dreug, from Proto-Germanic *dreugaz. Possibly influenced by Brythonic, e.g. Welsh drycin (“bad weather”) < drwg (“bad”) + hin (“weather”).
Distantly cognate with English drudge, dree, and German trügen.
Pronunciation
Adjective
dreich (comparative mair dreich, superlative maist dreich)
- persistent, continuous, relentless
- slow, tardy
- dismal, dowie, dreary, bleak
- 2000, Matthew Fitt, But n Ben A-Go-Go, Luath, published 2000, page 132:
- The dreich inhuman blue on Nadia's lang-wheesht thocht-screen fizzed intae life.
- The dreary, inhuman blue on Nadia's long-silent thought-screen fizzed into life.
- tedious, wearisome, drawn-out
- reluctant, tight-fisted, driving a hard bargain