Wry describes a type of humor or expression that's dry, ironic, and slightly twisted, like a crooked smile. When someone makes a wry comment, they're being funny in a clever, understated way that shows they see the irony or absurdity in a situation.

Imagine your class spends weeks preparing for a field trip, only to have it canceled because of rain. A student might say with a wry smile, “Well, at least we got really good at making permission slip reminders.” That's wry humor: acknowledging disappointment while finding something dryly amusing about the situation.

Wry often appears in the phrase wry sense of humor, describing someone who notices life's contradictions and points them out with subtle, intelligent wit rather than loud jokes. A wry observation might make you smile and think at the same time, rather than laugh out loud.

The word can also describe something literally twisted or bent, like a wry neck that's tilted to one side, but this meaning is less common. The humor meaning connects to this idea: just as something physically wry is slightly crooked, wry humor has a kind of twisted, sideways cleverness to it.