- 1沉悶、陰鬱、了無生氣（那種又無聊又讓人心情低落的感覺）
The quality of being dreary — that grey, flat, going-nowhere feeling a place or a stretch of time can have. It is the noun form, so it names the feeling itself rather than describing something: the dreariness of a February afternoon, the dreariness of the work.
The quality of being drearydreary的名詞形式——that grey, flat, going-nowhere feeling那種灰灰的、平淡的、毫無進展的感覺 a place or a stretch of time can have一個地方或一段時間可能會有的。It is the noun form它是名詞形式 so it names the feeling itself rather than describing something所以指的是那種感覺本身，而不是在描述某個東西: the dreariness of a February afternoon像是二月午後的dreariness the dreariness of the work或是這份工作的dreariness。
Two things live in it at once, and both matter: the thing is dull, and the dullness presses down on you and makes you low. Plain doesn't reach that far — passes when something happens, while dreariness feels like a weather system you're stuck inside.
Two things live in it at once, and both matter這裡面同時有兩件事，兩個都重要: the thing is dull這個東西很沉悶 and the dullness presses down on you and makes you low而這股沉悶又會壓在你身上，讓你心情低落。Plain boredom doesn't reach that far單純的無聊沒有到這麼深——boredom passes when something happens無聊會在有事情發生的時候就過去 while dreariness feels like a weather system you're stuck inside但dreariness的感覺像是你被困在一個氣象系統裡面。
That's why it goes so naturally with rain, winter, grey buildings, waiting rooms, and jobs where every day repeats.
That's why it goes so naturally with這就是為什麼它常常很自然地跟以下搭在一起: rain, winter, grey buildings, waiting rooms雨天、冬天、灰色的建築物、候診室 and jobs where every day repeats還有每天都一成不變的工作。
It is uncountable, so 'the dreariness' or just 'dreariness', never 'a dreariness' or 'drearinesses'.
It is uncountable它是不可數名詞 so 'the dreariness' or just 'dreariness'所以會說'the dreariness'，或直接說'dreariness' never 'a dreariness' or 'drearinesses'不會說'a dreariness'或'drearinesses'。
It's a written word more than a spoken one; in speech people say 'how depressing this place is'.
It's a written word more than a spoken one這是個比較常出現在寫作裡的字，而不是口語; in speech people say 'how depressing this place is'口語裡人們會說'how depressing this place is'。
core核心畫面
組成dreary + -ness. The ending -ness turns an adjective into the name of its quality — kind → kindness, dark → darkness. The y softens to i before it, as usual. The root goes back to Old English drēoriġ, which meant sad, and further back to a Germanic word meaning bloody or gory — the word has travelled a long way from blood, through grief, to a wet Tuesday.
原始詞典資料1 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
drearinessnoun
- 1
The characteristic of being dreary.
- What tho’ the moon—the white moon Shed all the splendour of her noon, Her smile is chilly—and her beam, In that time of dreariness, will seem (So like you gather in your breath) A portrait taken after death.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。