Russian

Noun

дрянь • ‎(drjanʹ) f inan, f anim ‎(genitive дря́ни, nominative plural дря́ни, genitive plural дря́ней)

1. (colloquial) rubbish, trash
   • 1929 – 1940, М. А. Булгаков, Мастер и Маргарита

     Пошёл я купаться на Москва-реку, ну и попятили мою одёжу, а эту дрянь оставили!

     • 1979 translation by Richard Pevear, Larissa Volokhonsky

       I went for a swim in the Moscow River, so they filched my clothes and left me this trash!

2. (figuratively, colloquial, animate) rotter, skunk, dirty dog

Declension

Derived terms

• дрянно́й ‎(drjannój)
• дря́нский ‎(drjánskij)
• дрянцо́ ‎(drjancó)

Related terms

• драть ‎(dratʹ)

References

• Fasmer, Maks (1964–1973), “дрянь”, in Etimologičeskij slovarʹ russkovo jazyka [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), translated from German and supplemented by Trubačev O. N., Moscow: Progress
• Černyx, P. Ja. (1999), “дрянь”, in Istoriko-etimologičeskij slovarʹ russkovo jazyka [Historical-Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), volume 1, 3rd reprint edition, Moscow: Russkij jazyk, page 271
• Trubačev O. N., editor (1978), “*dьranь”, in Etimologičeskij slovarʹ slavjanskix jazykov [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages] (in Russian), volume 05, Moscow: Nauka, page 217