wry

Etymology 1

From Middle English wrien, from Old English wrīġian (“to go, turn, twist, bend, strive, struggle, press forward, endeavor, venture”), from Proto-Germanic *wrigōną (“to wriggle”), from Proto-Indo-European *wreyḱ- (“to turn, wrap, tie”), from *wer- (“to turn, bend”). Compare awry, wriggle.

adj

1. Turned away, contorted (of the face or body).
   “Humph! Had to,” said Pep with a wry grimace. 1913, Victor Appleton, “chapter 11”, in The Motion Picture Chums at Seaside Park
2. Dryly humorous; sardonic or bitterly ironic.
   "[T]he master says a wry word now and then; and so ye let your spirits go down, don't ye see, and all sorts o' fancies comes into your head." 1871, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, “chapter 6”, in The Haunted Baronet
3. Twisted, bent, crooked.
4. Deviating from the right direction; misdirected; out of place.
   . . . the wry rigour of our neighbours, who never take up an old idea without some extravagance in its application. 1876, Walter Savage Landor, The Works and Life of Walter Savage Landor, volume IV, Imaginary Conversations, Third Series: Dialogues of Literary Men, ch. 6—Milton and Andrew Marvel, page 155 (Google preview)

verb

1. (obsolete, intransitive) To turn (away); to swerve or deviate.
   God pricketh them of his great goodness still. And the grief of this great pang pincheth them at the heart, and of wickedness they wry away. 1535, Thomas More, chapter 18, in Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation
2. (obsolete, transitive) To divert; to cause to turn away.
3. (transitive) To twist or contort (the body, face, etc.).

noun

1. (regional) Distortion.

Etymology 2

From Middle English wryen, wrien, wreon, wrihen, from Old English wrēon (“to cover, clothe, envelop”), from Proto-West Germanic *wrīhan, from Proto-Germanic *wrīhaną (“to wrap, cover”), from Proto-Indo-European *wreyḱ- (“to turn, wrap, tie”), from *wer- (“to turn, bend”).

verb

1. (transitive, obsolete) To cover; clothe; cover up; cloak; hide.