Wry means dryly amused, with a touch of irony. The smile of somebody who has noticed the joke in a bad situation.
It attaches to smiles, humour and observations, and a wry smile is close to a fixed phrase, meaning amusement mixed with resignation. British writing loves it. The original sense is twisted, which survives in a wry neck, and the twist is exactly what the expression involves. It is one of the highest compliments English pays to a sense of humour.
1adjectivewryShowing dry, ironic amusement.
“He gave a wry smile and said nothing.”
A wry smile is a twisted one. Old English wrīġian meant to turn, twist or bend, so the word was crooked long before it was ironic.
Proto-Indo-European
*wreyḱ- — to turn, wrap, tie
Proto-Germanic
*wrigōną — to wriggle
Old English
wrīġian — to go, turn, twist, bend, strive, struggle, press forward, endeavor, venture
Middle English
wrien
English, today
wry
Built from
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.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA