Standard Lemma guide

bleary

adj · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈblɪəɹi/
  • British, Southern, Standard: /ˈblɪːɹɪj/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • /ˈblɪɹi/ General American, mirror–nearer merger
  • US: /ˈblɪɚi/ without the mirror–nearer merger
  • US: /ˈbliɹi/ without the mirror–nearer merger
  • Scotland: /ˈbliɾe/
  • Scotland: [ˈbliːɾe]
  • Scotland: /-ɾɪ/
  • Scotland: /-ɾi/
  • New-Zealand: /ˈbliəɹi/
  • /ˈblɛːɹi/ East Anglia, cheer–chair merger
  • rhymes with -ɪəɹi
  • CMU ARPABET: B L IH1 R IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Tired, having senses dulled by exhaustion.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Near-synonyms: exhausted, weary; see also Thesaurus:fatigued
  • bleary eyes

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bleareyed, bleary-eyed, exhausted, weary, bleary, bone-tired, bushed, tired out, spent, wrecked, drained, dog-tired, dog-weary, fatigued, forfairn, forlagen, forworn, heavyeyed, jaded, languid, enervated, out of gas, played out, run-down, shattered, shot, sleepy, stuffed, tired, washed out, weariful, whacked, whipped, worn, worn out, banjaxed, beat, buggered, busted, dead tired, cream crackered, done, done in, done up, fagged out, fried, fucked, gassed, jiggered, Kerry Packered, knacked, knackered, nadgered, pooped, pooped out, pumped, shagged, shagged out, tuckered, tuckered out, wappened, zonked

Antonyms: none provided

2

adjective satellite

Meaning 2

indistinct or hazy in outline

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a landscape of blurred outlines
  • the trees were just blurry shapes

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: blurred, blurry, foggy, fuzzy, hazy, muzzy

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

tired to the point of exhaustion

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: blear, bleary-eyed, blear-eyed

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English blery, equivalent to blear + -y. Compare Old English bleriġ (“bald”).

Across languages

Translations

9 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: изнемощял (iznemoštjal) — Tired, having senses dulled by exhaustion
  • French: rougi, trouble, larmoyant — Tired, having senses dulled by exhaustion
  • French: rougi — Tired, having senses dulled by exhaustion
  • French: trouble — Tired, having senses dulled by exhaustion
  • Hungarian: fátyolos/homályos (szemű) — Tired, having senses dulled by exhaustion
  • Polish: wyczerpany — Tired, having senses dulled by exhaustion
  • Polish: zmęczony — Tired, having senses dulled by exhaustion
  • Portuguese: exausto — Tired, having senses dulled by exhaustion
  • Russian: изнеможённый (iznemožónnyj) — Tired, having senses dulled by exhaustion