How to use wryly in a sentence

16 example sentences · adverb

Wryly means in a wry or sarcastic manner; ironically. Example: “Rachel smiled wryly at Bryan, clearly showing her discomfort after being dragged into an unwanted interaction with him.”

Examples of wryly by meaning

adverbIn a wry or sarcastic manner; ironically.

The sins of the father, she thought wryly.1966, Jacqueline Susann, Valley of the Dolls, Grove Press, published 1997, page 206
‘The king is displeased with it, but he has to be patient,’ Chapuys wryly commented.1991, Alison Weir, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Grove Press, published 2000, page 219
A Ukrainian presidential adviser wrote that Kyiv had nothing to do with the attacks but then wryly compared them to Russia’s past use of proxy forces to fight in Ukraine.2023 May 22, Andrew Roth, “Anti-Putin militia claims to have overrun Russian border village”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

adverbOf a facial expression, contortedly.

Rachel smiled wryly at Bryan, clearly showing her discomfort after being dragged into an unwanted interaction with him.
Croton smiled wryly but his cold eyes showed what he really thought of the captain's pyrotechnics.1970, Wally Ferris, Across 110th, page 50

More sentences with wryly

The Bech books constitute a wryly caricaturish collective profile of Mr.2009 January 28, Bruce Weber, “Updike’s Stories: Some Paths Traveled, Some Not Taken”, in New York Times. From the entry caricaturish
Gerald Freedman has misstaged the wryly titled musical, giving it no panache, sensitivity or style.2003, Alvin H. Marill, More Theatre: Stage to Screen to Television, 1993-2001, page 5. From the entry misstage
Can we, pleeease?" Malik grinned wryly, broke a baggy of weed out, and started stuffing the pipe."2001, Jaina Bell, Retards, Rebels, & Slackers, page 25. From the entry Scooby snack
"Can we, pleeease?" Malik grinned wryly, broke a baggy of weed out, and started stuffing the pipe."2001, Jaina Bell, Retards, Rebels, & Slackers - Page 25. From the entry pleeease
Girl (wryly, as she moves to r. of Marnitski, looking at all the medicine).1947, Paul Vincent Carroll, Guy Robertson, Plays for juvenile performers, page 22. From the entry tarnations
Others wryly illustrate appropriated audios, like instructions for quacking like a duck or a letter from an angry airline passenger.2009 April 17, The New York Times, “Art in Review”, in New York Times. From the entry audio
It presents Dürer’s mother as a sharp-nosed, world-weary German frau looking wryly out at life from under a decorous wimple.2007 January 12, Grace Glueck, “Fun With Studio Crafts: When the Traditional Gets Quirky”, in The New York Times, archived from the…. From the entry frau
As one newspaper columnist wryly observed, "Motherhood and apple pie, baseball and the flag — all may be subjects of controversy.2003, Deborah Lynn Guber, The grassroots of a green revolution: polling America on the environment, page 1. From the entry motherhood and apple pie
Life gets mighty complicated sometimes, she reflected wryly.1980, Lynna Cooper, chapter 12, in Portrait of Love, Signet Books, page 117. From the entry fortune-hunter
“The book is about guilt, adultery, murder, a chase through the mountains — you know, the usual day-to-day stuff,” Babcock said wryly.2025 August 2, Maureen Dowd, quoting Richard Babcock, “Attention, Men: Books Are Sexy!”, in The New York Times. From the entry day-to-day
Yet the Aunswer wryly reapplies the same pair of words to describe its own finality as an answer, to reassert its boundaries of page space.2012, Chris Stamatakis, Sir Thomas Wyatt and the Rhetoric of Rewriting, page 190. From the entry rescriptive

Meaning of wryly

adverb In a wry or sarcastic manner; ironically.
adverb Of a facial expression, contortedly.

Full definition of wryly

Questions about wryly in a sentence

How do you use wryly in a sentence?: Wryly is used as an adverb. For example: “Rachel smiled wryly at Bryan, clearly showing her discomfort after being dragged into an unwanted interaction with him.”
What is a short sentence with wryly?: “Life gets mighty complicated sometimes, she reflected wryly.”
What does wryly mean?: Wryly means in a wry or sarcastic manner; ironically.

Adapted from Wiktionary: wryly (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use wryly in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/wryly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.