What does "dryasdust" mean?

A dull, boring or pedantic speaker or writer.

Dryasdust

Common synonyms include: academic, antiquarian, antiquary, antique collector, antique dealer, antique-car collector.

adj, noun

adj, noun ·Moderate ·College level

Noun

1
A dull, boring or pedantic speaker or writer.
"[…] how can Dryasdust interpret such things, the dark chaotic dullard, who knows the meaning of nothing cosmic or noble, nor ever will know?"

Adjective

1
Boring and pedantic in speech or writing. not-comparable
"[…] Casaubon, the dryasdust scholar in Middlemarch, is said to woo his bride with a “frigid rhetoric . . . as sincere as the bark of a dog, or the cawing of an amorous rook.”"

"[…] how can Dryasdust interpret such things, the dark chaotic dullard, who knows the meaning of nothing cosmic or noble, nor ever will know?"

From the fictitious character Jonas Dryasdust, created by Sir Walter Scott, from dry as dust.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.