Words for Dry Humor: Wry, Droll, Deadpan and More

Some of the funniest people in a room never raise their voice. They make a small remark, their face stays straight, and a few seconds later everyone is laughing. English has a family of words for this kind of humor: quiet, understated and dry. If you have ever tried to describe it, you may have reached for funny and felt the word was too loud. This guide gives you better ones. It also answers a question that dictionaries phrase in several ways: what do you call it when something is said in a dry humorous way?

What "dry" means here

When people call humor dry, they mean it has no obvious cue that it is a joke. There is little change in tone, no laughing at one's own remark and often a plain, matter-of-fact delivery. The listener has to notice the humor for themselves. That is why dry humor often depends on shared context, and why it can pass by someone who is not expecting it.

The words below all sit near that idea, and each has its own shade. Some describe the person, some describe the remark, and some describe the way it is delivered.

Wry

Wry is probably the best single word for a dry humorous remark. Wiktionary gives its core sense as dryly humorous, sardonic or ironic, usually in a way that acknowledges a problem or difficult situation. The last part is the useful clue. A wry comment is rarely cheerful. It admits that something is awkward or disappointing and finds a little humor in it anyway.

• She gave a wry smile when she saw the rain. (The smile says, "Of course it's raining.")
• He made a wry comment about the length of the meeting.

The adverb is wryly: "Well, that went well," he said wryly. There is also an older sense of wry meaning twisted or contorted, as in a wry face, and the two senses are connected. The word comes from an old English verb meaning to twist or turn, and a wry smile is one that twists a little at the corner of the mouth.

Droll

Droll describes something that is oddly amusing, often in a whimsical or quaint way. Where wry tends to carry a trace of resignation, droll is lighter and more playful. It suggests that the speaker or the situation is a little eccentric, in a pleasant way.

• The children found the old professor's droll remarks hard to resist.
• It was a droll little film about a retired magician.

The word came into English from French, and from there it goes back to a Middle Dutch word for a goblin. That oddness is still in the meaning. The adverb is drolly. Because droll is a little old-fashioned, you meet it more often in writing than in speech.

Deadpan

Deadpan is about delivery more than content. Deadpan humor is a comic style in which the speaker shows little or no emotion, usually in contrast to something absurd or ridiculous. The words and the delivery are flat, and the audience finds the joke in the gap between how a thing is said and what is being said. The word seems to have appeared in the 1920s and combines dead with pan, a slang word for face. A deadpan person keeps a dead face.

• "I always wear a helmet at the dinner table," she said, completely deadpan.
• His deadpan delivery made the story twice as funny.

You can use deadpan as an adjective (a deadpan expression) and as an adverb or a description of how something was said (he said it deadpan). Notice that a deadpan remark may or may not be wry. Deadpan says how it was delivered, and wry says what kind of humor it was.

Sardonic

Sardonic is a stronger and sharper word. Wiktionary defines it as scornfully mocking or cynical, and also as disdainful or ironically humorous. A sardonic remark has an edge: it mocks, and it often shows that the speaker does not expect much. It is dry humor with the warmth taken out.

• He gave a sardonic laugh when the manager called the plan "realistic".
• Her sardonic tone made it clear she was not impressed.

The word has an interesting history. It came into English through French and Latin from an ancient Greek word for bitter or scornful laughter. One old explanation links it to a plant from Sardinia whose poison was believed to twist the face into a grin. The adverb is sardonically. If you call someone's humor sardonic, you are saying it is cutting. If you only want to say it is dry, wry is the safer choice.

Ironic and ironically

Ironic describes a statement or a situation in which the real meaning is the opposite of the surface one. Dry humor often uses irony: saying lovely weather in a downpour. If you want to know how irony fits among other figures of speech, the guide to figurative language covers it with examples. Ironically is also the adverb people reach for when something turns out opposite to what was expected.

Which word to choose

A quick way to decide is to ask three questions. Is the speaker amused or bitter? If they are amused, choose wry or droll. If they are bitter, choose sardonic. Is the focus on the delivery? Then deadpan is the word. Is the meaning the opposite of the words? That is ironic.

Adverbs: in a dry humorous way

If you want an adverb to modify a verb, you have good options:

• wryly: "Nice weather for it," she said wryly.
• drolly: He drolly pointed out that the shop was closed.
• dryly: "I'm thrilled," he said dryly.
• sardonically: She smiled sardonically at the proposal.

Dryly is the plainest and the most common, and the other adverbs add a shade. When a definition says in a dry humorous way, the adverbs that fit it best are wryly and drolly.

Using these words in your own writing

Dry humor is an easy tone to overdo in a description. A few habits help.

• Choose one word, not three. Writing a wry, droll, sardonic smile tells the reader nothing the first word did not.
• Show the line. A short quotation, followed by she said wryly, usually works better than an adjective alone.
• Know your audience. Dry humor may not travel across cultures or registers. In an email to a new client, a plain sentence is usually safer. Formal and informal vocabulary explains how to read the situation.
• Keep the spelling and form straight. Droll and sardonic are adjectives, and the adverbs add -ly. Other synonym guides on this site show how shades of meaning shift within a group.

Practice set

Choose the best word: wry, droll, deadpan or sardonic.

1. The comedian's ______ delivery, with no smile at all, made the joke funnier.
2. He gave a ______ smile when he saw the parking ticket.
3. The critic's ______ review mocked every character in the film.
4. The puppet show was a ______ little story about a clumsy king.
5. Which adverb fits? "I'm delighted," she said ______ (she was not delighted at all).
6. Which word describes how a joke is delivered, not what kind of joke it is?

Answers: 1. deadpan. 2. wry (a rueful smile at a small problem). 3. sardonic (mocking and cynical). 4. droll (whimsical). 5. dryly or wryly. 6. deadpan.

Making it stick

Words for shades of humor are best learned from real sentences. When you read a line you find funny, note the word the author chose for the speaker's tone and keep it with the sentence. Reviewing these on a schedule, as in how spaced repetition works, helps you hold two close words apart.

How Wordabulary fits in

Wordabulary finds your level with a placement assessment, then gives you practice and quizzes matched to it. Each word page shows the meaning, an example sentence and how close words differ, and you can listen to each word in British or American English.