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dreich

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dreich

  • /dɹiːk/ UK
  • /dɹiːx/ UK
  • /dɹik/ US
  • /drix/ Scotland
  • /ðreː/ Ireland
  • /driːx/ Ireland

Rhymes with -iːk, -iːx

Where it comes from

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”)

adjective dreicher · dreichest · dree · dreigh · dreegh

  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. So Alec showed her the letter, 'twas long and dreich and went on and on; […]

    Similar: circumlocutory, diffuse, periphrastic, palaverous, pleonastic, prolix, rigmarole, sesquipedalian, verbose, wordy · Opposite: brief, concise, crisp, laconic, lapidary, short-winded, succinct, tight, to the point, taut, terse

  2. Midlands, North, Northern England, Northern Ireland, Scotland Not enjoyable or interesting; boring, dull. 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!

    Similar: banal, basic, mindless, beat, blah, commonplace, bland, boring, cold, colourless, corny, drab · Opposite: absorbing, alacrifying, awesome, banging, bracing, hot, compelling, distracting, dramatic, edge-of-the-seat, engrossing, electric

  3. Midlands, North, Northern England, Northern Ireland, Scotland Bleak, cheerless, dismal, dreary, miserable. 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.

    Similar: cheerless, comfortless, bleak, dark, morose, depressing, desolate, dire, disconsolate, dismal, doleful, dolesome

  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). 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.

    Similar: dilatory, tardy, crawling, slack, slow-moving, languid, languorous, draggy, creeping, dreich, gastropodous, glacial · Opposite: cursory, express, fast, expeditious, feverish, fleet, fleeting, greased lightning, hasty, hectic, hectical, hyperactive

  7. Midlands, North, Northern England, Northern Ireland, Scotland Of a person: having a dejected or serious appearance or mood; dour, gloomy, moody, morose, sullen. 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.
  8. Midlands, North, Northern England, Northern Ireland, Scotland Of a task: laborious, tedious, troublesome; hence, needing concentration to understand; intricate. 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.

    Similar: burdensome, taxing, toilsome

  9. Midlands, North, Northern England, Northern Ireland, Scotland Chiefly of rain: without pause or stop; continuous, incessant. So, after two hours' running downhill, we came out in the level valley at Glashütte. It was raining now, a thick dree rain.

    Similar: persistent, sustained, unceasing, unending, unremitting, amaranthine, solid, ceaseless, constant, continual, continuate, continuous

  10. Midlands, North, Northern England, Northern Ireland, Scotland Of weather: dreary, gloomy (cold, overcast, rainy, etc.). To be sure, t' winter's been a dree season, and thou'rt, maybe, in the right on't to make a late start.
  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 dreiches

  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.

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Cite this
MLA

"dreich." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/dreich. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

dreich. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/dreich

Chicago

"dreich." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/dreich.

BibTeX
@misc{dreich_2026,
  title = {dreich},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/dreich},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}