---
title: wry — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «wry» in the school dictionary: A wry smile or wry face is a twisted smile or face that shows dislike, doubt or mixed feelings. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# wry

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** wry smile, twisted smile, Wry humour, He, She, Pinocchio · **What happens:** be, show, mix, give, tell, make · **To what, where:** twisted smile, dislike, wry smile, he, wry face, bitter medicine · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
«wry» in the school dictionary: its 2 meanings for a pupil and its 4 examples, every sentence parsed by Mova itself — its syntax tree, a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies, and its pragmatics clause by clause. The word in the dictionary, with its sense in the lessons: [wry in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/wry.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A wry smile or wry face is a twisted smile or face that shows dislike, doubt or mixed feelings.

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:wry:m1:1
# text = A wry smile or wry face is a twisted smile or face that shows dislike, doubt or mixed feelings.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	wry	wry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	smile	smile	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	_
4	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
5	wry	wry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	face	face	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	twisted	twisted	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	smile	smile	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
11	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	face	face	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	conj	_	_
13	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	14	nsubj	_	_
14	shows	show	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	10	acl:relcl	_	_
15	dislike	dislike	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
17	doubt	doubt	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	conj	_	_
18	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
19	mixed	mix	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	20	amod	_	_
20	feelings	feeling	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a wry smile or wry face | a twisted smile or face |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **show** | present | a twisted smile or face | dislike and doubt or mixed feelings |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent dislike=Recipient |
| 3 | **mix** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn mix-22.1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Patient |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## Meaning 2 {#m2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Wry humour is dry and a little mocking.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:wry:m2:1
# text = Wry humour is dry and a little mocking.
1	Wry	wry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	humour	humour	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	cop	_	_
4	dry	dry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	mocking	mocking	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Wry humour |  |  |  |  | dry *property* | tree rules |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He gave a wry smile when he was told the news.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:wry:x1:1
# text = He gave a wry smile when he was told the news.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	gave	give	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	wry	wry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	smile	smile	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	9	mark	_	_
7	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	nsubj	_	_
8	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	told	tell	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	advcl	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	news	news	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **give** | past | He | a wry smile |  |  |  |  | vn give-13.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent smile=Theme |
| 2 | **tell** *speech: assert* | past · passive |  | he |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1-1 «NP V NP-Dative NP»: subject=Recipient news=Topic |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She made a wry face at the bitter medicine.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:wry:x2:1
# text = She made a wry face at the bitter medicine.
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	made	make	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	wry	wry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	face	face	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	_
6	at	at	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	bitter	bitter	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	medicine	medicine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** | past | She | a wry face |  | the bitter medicine |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent face=Product |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
"Pinocchio made a wry face," the story says.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:wry:x3:1
# text = "Pinocchio made a wry face," the story says.
1	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Pinocchio	Pinocchio	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	made	make	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	wry	wry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	face	face	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	11	punct	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
11	says	say	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **make** *in a quote* | past | Pinocchio | a wry face |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | present | the story |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing for maths.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:wry:x4:1
# text = Nothing for maths.
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	0	root	_	_
2	for	for	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
3	maths	math	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	1	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .note -->
The frames reader finds no event or fact in this sentence.

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**Text:** the school dictionary of Mova's schools (`world/data/dictionary-schools/`), written for Mova. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each meaning and example read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

<!-- /div -->

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