Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SUL'TRY, a. [G. schwül, sultry; Sax. swolath, swole; heat, G. schwüle. See Swelter.]

1. Very hot, burning and oppressive; as, Libya's sultry deserts. – Addison.
2. Very hot and moist, or hot, close, stagnant and unelastic; as air or the atmosphere. A sultry air is usually enfeebling and oppressive to the human body. Such as born beneath the burning sky / And sultry sun, betwixt the tropics lie. – Dryden.