wear
verb (used with object)
to carry or have on the body or about the person as a covering, equipment, ornament, or the like.
wear
American
[wair]
/ wɛər /
verb (used with object)
-
wears,
present (3rd person singular)
-
wore,
past
-
worn,
past participle
-
wearing
present participle
-
to carry or have on the body or about the person as a covering, equipment, ornament, or the like.
to wear a coat;
to wear a saber;
to wear a disguise.
-
to have or use on the person habitually.
to wear a wig.
-
to bear or have in one's aspect or appearance.
to wear a smile;
to wear an air of triumph.
-
to cause (garments, linens, etc.) to deteriorate or change by wear.
Hard use has worn these gloves.
-
to impair, deteriorate, or consume gradually by use or any continued process.
Long illness had worn the bloom from her cheeks.
-
to waste or diminish gradually by rubbing, scraping, washing, etc..
The waves have worn these rocks.
-
to make (a hole, channel, way, etc.) by such action.
-
to bring about or cause a specified condition in (a person or thing) by use, deterioration, or gradual change.
You'll wear that outfit to rags if you don't take better care of it.
Years of hard labor had worn him to a shadow.
-
to weary; fatigue; exhaust.
Toil and care soon wear the spirit.
-
to pass (time) gradually or tediously (usually followed by away orout ).
We wore the afternoon away in arguing.
-
Nautical. to bring (a vessel) on another tack by turning until the wind is on the stern.
-
British Dialect. to gather and herd (sheep or cattle) to a pen or pasture.
verb (used without object)
-
wears,
present (3rd person singular)
-
wore,
past
-
worn,
past participle
-
wearing
present participle
-
to undergo gradual impairment, diminution, reduction, etc., from wear, use, attrition, or other causes (often followed by away, down, out, oroff ).
-
to retain shape, color, usefulness, value, etc., under wear, use, or any continued strain.
a strong material that will wear;
colors that wear well.
-
(of time) to pass, especially slowly or tediously (often followed by on oraway ).
As the day wore on, we had less and less to talk about.
-
to have the quality of being easy or difficult to tolerate, especially after a relatively long association.
It's hard to get to know him, but he wears well.
-
Nautical. (of a vessel) to come round on another tack by turning away from the wind.
-
Obsolete. to be commonly worn; to be in fashion.
noun
-
the act of wearing; use, as of a garment.
articles for winter wear;
I've had a lot of wear out of this coat.
I had to throw away the shirt after only three wears.
-
the state of being worn, as on the person.
-
clothing or other articles for wearing; especially when fashionable or appropriate for a particular function (often used in combination).
travel wear;
sportswear.
-
gradual impairment, wasting, diminution, etc., as from use.
The carpet shows wear.
-
the quality of resisting deterioration with use; durability.
verb phrase
idioms
wear
1
British
/ wɛə /
verb
-
(tr) to carry or have (a garment, etc) on one's person as clothing, ornament, etc
-
(tr) to carry or have on one's person habitually
she wears a lot of red
-
(tr) to have in one's aspect
to wear a smile
-
(tr) to display, show, or fly
a ship wears its colours
-
to deteriorate or cause to deteriorate by constant use or action
-
to produce or be produced by constant rubbing, scraping, etc
to wear a hole in one's trousers
-
to bring or be brought to a specified condition by constant use or action
to wear a tyre to shreds
-
(intr) to submit to constant use or action in a specified way
his suit wears well
-
(tr) to harass or weaken
-
(of time) to pass or be passed slowly
-
slang (tr) to accept
Larry won't wear that argument
-
to change the tack of a sailing vessel, esp a square-rigger, by coming about so that the wind passes astern
noun
-
the act of wearing or state of being worn
-
-
anything designed to be worn
leisure wear
-
( in combination )
nightwear
-
-
deterioration from constant or normal use or action
-
the quality of resisting the effects of constant use
Wear
2
British
/ wɪə /
noun
wear
3
British
/ wɛə /
verb
wear
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
wearsimple
-
wearssimple
-
have wornperfect
-
has wornperfect
-
am wearingprogressive
-
are wearingprogressive
-
is wearingprogressive
-
have been wearingperfect progressive
-
has been wearingperfect progressive
Past
-
woresimple
-
had wornperfect
-
was wearingprogressive
-
were wearingprogressive
-
had been wearingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of wear
First recorded before 900; (verb) Middle English weren “to have (clothes) on the body, waste, damage, suffer waste or damage,” Old English werian; cognate with Old Norse verja, Gothic wasjan “to clothe”; (noun) late Middle English were “act of carrying on the body,” derivative of the verb; akin to Latin vestis clothing ( see vest)
Explanation
To wear means to clothe, or be covered by. You wear suits to interviews and sweats to the gym. Wear is used to talk about the things we wear on our body, like clothes or jewelry. We even say that people wear their feelings. If someone tells you you’re wearing your heart on your sleeve, it’s totally obvious what you’re feeling. We also use wear to talk about deterioration over time. If you walk a lot, you will wear out your shoes faster. If you chatter on and on, your listener’s patience will wear thin.
Vocabulary lists containing wear
"The Road Not Taken"
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Spelling Practice, Unit 3
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“There’s always been such a focus on the glutes, or on the abs, but what really stands out in any outfit you wear is your arms.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
The wear and tear is cumulative, adding up over time like it does for all contact sports.
From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026
I wash and wear the same bike clothes for months—no temptation to buy new outfits—and we’re too scruffy for fancy restaurants.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Blunt deadpanned: "Well, look, if you go early, I'll wear your outfits."
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
“Wouldn’t you like something different to wear for a change? Something pretty?”
From "Wolfie & Fly" by Cary Fagan
She has also held roles at Women's Wear Daily and the Daily Beast.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
The ancestral home of George Washington's family - Washington Old Hall, Tyne and Wear - is just one such location, where local young people are set to read from the document on 4 July itself.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
Wear Stars 4 Little Stars Week is due to run between 22 and 28th June.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
Reed wrote for many publications in the ensuing years, including Vogue, Esquire, GQ and Women’s Wear Daily, before landing at the New York Observer when it was founded as a print weekly in 1987.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026
“They must not catch you here. If they do—all will be lost. Wear this.”
From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas
She adds that she constantly gets compliments when she wears a strapless dress.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
"That wears on you psychologically," Gershkovich said, but added that he was treated ok: "I was allowed to sleep, the food was fine."
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
Ali wears a hijab while in the suit and uses a second person, usually a model or intern, to provide the bug’s feet — though she insists that those are the “bug’s feet.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
Today he is 79, and wears the calamities of the past more lightly than most of us could ever imagine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
He’s carrying a rake, wears a work belt that looks like armor, it’s got so many carabiners and tools hanging off it, and shoulders a backpack full of stuff studded with even more carabiners.
From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz
True to form, Joe Lycett wore a polka-dot shorts suit with a purple feather collar.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
As soon as the Dodgers traded for Skubal two months ago, he was delighted to receive a text message from a pitcher who wore the weight of expectations throughout his career.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
Yet as the turbulent session wore on, intense buying suddenly erupted in policy-sensitive parts of the $31.5 trillion Treasury market.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026
Each participant wore an upper arm BP cuff chosen according to the size of their upper arm.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 1, 2026
She was wearing a raincoat made of clear flower petals, but she still wore her favorite Coney Island T-shirt.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
It included a black and gold military-style jacket, worn at multiple public appearances during the Dangerous and HIStory eras.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
A continuous glucose monitor worn by a nondiabetic can produce a detailed account of post-meal glucose.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
“The Buddhist Bug” was created in 2011, a few years before “The Red Chador,” and inspired by the pervasiveness of the saffron-colored robes worn by monks in Cambodia.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
And that day, Erika was too worn out and too upset to be patient anymore.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026
He visited burrows he’d lived in from past years, but they looked worn and tired now; they lacked what Major Puff deemed “the proper puffin panache.”
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
I’m making guacamole, wearing winged black eyeliner and Utah curls, trying to steady my hands.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
In a lighter moment earlier, the mayor, wearing a gray suit, had joined a tiara-wearing Miss Huntington Beach in selecting winners of a lottery—to run fireworks stands—from numbered balls in a bingo cage.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
The technology emerged from research focused on making military uniforms more resistant to mosquito bites and improving comfort for soldiers wearing body armor.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 1, 2026
Once again it contained a photo of a complete stranger wearing Kev's prized possession – this time in Barcelona.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
She stood up and I saw she was wearing the most extraordinary getup.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
