What's the difference between swerve and wry?

Swerve


Definition:

  • (v. i.) To stray; to wander; to rope.
  • (v. i.) To go out of a straight line; to deflect.
  • (v. i.) To wander from any line prescribed, or from a rule or duty; to depart from what is established by law, duty, custom, or the like; to deviate.
  • (v. i.) To bend; to incline.
  • (v. i.) To climb or move upward by winding or turning.
  • (v. t.) To turn aside.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Once in the mountains, we were immediately careering along slivers of swerving tarmac under a crystal-blue sky.
  • (2) Clearly underwhelmed, Pochettino's haste to board Southampton's flight south was such that he swerved post-match media duties.
  • (3) For US allies, trying to follow Washington’s lead over the past four months has been akin to trying to drive in convoy behind a car swerving violently at high speed, as the competing factions inside lunge for the steering wheel.
  • (4) Unusual to see one around here until just recently.” More deer vaulted in front of my car on Yubari’s main street the following day, forcing a swerve.
  • (5) Booed off at the interval, Sunderland began the second half by watching a shot from Stephen Gleeson, the visiting captain, swerve fractionally wide.
  • (6) Politicians of all parties have swerved this way and that.
  • (7) Due to oncoming traffic he couldn’t and swerved in towards me and my child on a bike seat.
  • (8) Swerving sanctions … and Swiss lawyers The Panama Papers help explain how people close to Putin became enriched.
  • (9) But by exaggerating the point, Parker swerves around another truth – that the UK's intelligence agencies are already scooping up more material than ever before, and GCHQ has an ambition to go further.
  • (10) Chris – lassoed from a parallel universe where Tom Cruise gave Hollywood a swerve to focus on taking his guitar-alt-musings to open mic spots instead – looks on, coldly dissecting technique and cutting to seduction tips.
  • (11) 8.23pm BST 38 min: Right on cue, Lampard becomes a positive presence for Chelsea, receiving the ball 25 yards from goal and unleashing a viciously swerving shot that forced Artur to produce a magnificent one-handed save!
  • (12) I’m waiting to hear what he says about Joshua because I have a feeling he’ll swerve him too.
  • (13) 45 min: The half concludes with a fine, swerving cross by Belhadj to Djebbour, who, predictably, misses it.
  • (14) Bale won one from Oliver Norwood in the 56th minute and Michael McGovern had to dive to keep out his dipping, swerving shot.
  • (15) 53 min: Internazionale goalkeeper Julio Cesar is pressed in to service, diving low and to his right to save a viciously swerving shot from Lionel Messi.
  • (16) We were able to swerve around the big distributional issues – and indeed the laws of politics – given the supposed end to boom and bust.
  • (17) The deft swerve around the words "dinner party" (these, being aspirational middle class, are presumably non-U in Maude-ian circles) and "meal" (also non-U, though I've no idea why; I'm only aware of this at all because a horrible old Etonian I once met ticked me off when it fell sluttishly from my lips).
  • (18) He turned, stepped away from Xavi and thumped a swerving rocket into the top corner by Pinto's near post.
  • (19) The EgyptAir flight that plunged into the Mediterranean Sea last week did not swerve before it went down, according to senior Egyptian officials, in a sharp contradiction of comments about “sudden swerves” made by the Greek defence minister .
  • (20) In the video, the driver appears to attempt to swerve away from the activist before knocking him to the road.

Wry


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To cover.
  • (superl.) Turned to one side; twisted; distorted; as, a wry mouth.
  • (superl.) Hence, deviating from the right direction; misdirected; out of place; as, wry words.
  • (superl.) Wrested; perverted.
  • (v. i.) To twist; to writhe; to bend or wind.
  • (v. i.) To deviate from the right way; to go away or astray; to turn side; to swerve.
  • (a.) To twist; to distort; to writhe; to wrest; to vex.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) When I commiserate about the overnight flight that brought them here, Linney gives a wry grimace.
  • (2) The image was widely shared online and taken as a wry comment on pictures of Donald Trump’s all-male Oval Office team.
  • (3) Putin could have been forgiven for allowing himself a wry grin, as another court comprehensively trashed Berezovsky's reputation.
  • (4) No wry observations or whoops-a-daisy trombones to subvert the conceit for period lolz.
  • (5) She frequently talks about herself as an object of wry or amused discovery.
  • (6) It was described as the "Twitter revolution" , but almost a year on from Iran's disputed presidential elections, during which the use of social media by the opposition movement made headlines around the world, such claims prompt wry smiles from seasoned observers.
  • (7) Enigmatic and elusive, they may have named themselves after the US video director because they enjoy his work, or it may be a wry comment on something or other.
  • (8) Franzen did seem to have a certain sense of humour about himself, and in person has a wry, awkward charm.
  • (9) Coal plants are the most polluting of all power stations and the World Resources Institute (WRI) identified 1,200 coal plants in planning across 59 countries, with about three-quarters in China and India.
  • (10) The cover art for the Cranberries' Bury the Hatchet (1999) was an evocation of paranoia – a giant eye bearing down on a crouching figure – that did neither band nor artist many favours; his image for Muse's Black Holes and Revelations (2006) amounted to a thin revival of his work for the Floyd that, if you were being generous, suggested a wry comment on that band's unconvincing attempts to revive the excesses of 1970s progressive rock.
  • (11) He was a nice man, unpretentious and with a wry manner.
  • (12) The secretary of state also made a wry comparison between the bipartisan co-operation underpinning the new Afghan government and the polarised state of American domestic politics.
  • (13) But he is courteous, wry, insightful and very much on the left of his party.
  • (14) "I think I know what's to come," Chua says with a wry smile.
  • (15) "I don't think that Plaid Cymru can overturn world capitalism," she says, with a wry smile.
  • (16) "They were very happy," Wazir recalls with a wry smile.
  • (17) We are seeing a shift in the expansion of tree cover loss to a second tier of smaller countries that traditionally get much less attention from environmental groups.” He added: “These countries are recovering from years of civil conflicts that have made them off limits to investors who are now looking for opportunities – it is a new frontier of investments.” The WRI analysis suggests that a rapidly growing palm oil industry is one of the biggest contributors to the change.
  • (18) Guy Shrubsole, at Friends of the Earth, said of the WRI report: "This is a scary number of coal-fired plants being planned.
  • (19) The WRI report also found that, after a slight dip during the economic troubles of 2008, the global coal trade has rebounded and rose by 13% in 2010.
  • (20) But he is far from being a show-off: 'In fact, he comes over as a modest individual with a wry sense of humour', says a colleague.