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• wear
  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
  Wear

  noun

  a river in NE England, rising in NW Durham and flowing southeast then northeast to the North Sea at Sunderland. Length: 105 km (65 miles)

wear

American  

[wair] / wɛər /

verb (used with object)

• wears,
  present (3rd person singular)
• wore,
  past
• worn,
  past participle
• wearing
  present participle

1. 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.

2. to have or use on the person habitually.

   to wear a wig.

3. to bear or have in one's aspect or appearance.

   to wear a smile;

   to wear an air of triumph.

4. to cause (garments, linens, etc.) to deteriorate or change by wear.

   Hard use has worn these gloves.

5. to impair, deteriorate, or consume gradually by use or any continued process.

   Long illness had worn the bloom from her cheeks.

6. to waste or diminish gradually by rubbing, scraping, washing, etc..

   The waves have worn these rocks.

7. to make (a hole, channel, way, etc.) by such action.

8. 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.

9. to weary; fatigue; exhaust.

   Toil and care soon wear the spirit.

10. to pass (time) gradually or tediously (usually followed by away orout ).

    We wore the afternoon away in arguing.

11. Nautical. to bring (a vessel) on another tack by turning until the wind is on the stern.

12. British Dialect. to gather and herd (sheep or cattle) to a pen or pasture.

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verb (used without object)

• wears,
  present (3rd person singular)
• wore,
  past
• worn,
  past participle
• wearing
  present participle

1. to undergo gradual impairment, diminution, reduction, etc., from wear, use, attrition, or other causes (often followed by away, down, out, oroff ).

2. to retain shape, color, usefulness, value, etc., under wear, use, or any continued strain.

   a strong material that will wear;

   colors that wear well.

3. (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.

4. 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.

5. Nautical. (of a vessel) to come round on another tack by turning away from the wind.

6. Obsolete. to be commonly worn; to be in fashion.

noun

1. 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.

2. the state of being worn, as on the person.

3. clothing or other articles for wearing; especially when fashionable or appropriate for a particular function (often used in combination).

   travel wear;

   sportswear.

4. gradual impairment, wasting, diminution, etc., as from use.

   The carpet shows wear.

5. the quality of resisting deterioration with use; durability.

verb phrase

1. wear out. see wear out.

2. wear off to diminish slowly or gradually or to diminish in effect; disappear.

   The drug began to wear off.

3. wear down

   1. to reduce or impair by long wearing.

      to wear down the heels of one's shoes.

   2. to weary; tire.

      His constant talking wears me down.

   3. to prevail by persistence; overcome.

      to wear down the opposition.

idioms

1. wear thin,

   1. to diminish; weaken.

      My patience is wearing thin.

   2. to become less appealing, interesting, tolerable, etc..

      childish antics that soon wore thin.

wear ¹ British  

/ wɛə /

verb

1. (tr) to carry or have (a garment, etc) on one's person as clothing, ornament, etc

2. (tr) to carry or have on one's person habitually

   she wears a lot of red

3. (tr) to have in one's aspect

   to wear a smile

4. (tr) to display, show, or fly

   a ship wears its colours

5. to deteriorate or cause to deteriorate by constant use or action

6. to produce or be produced by constant rubbing, scraping, etc

   to wear a hole in one's trousers

7. to bring or be brought to a specified condition by constant use or action

   to wear a tyre to shreds

8. (intr) to submit to constant use or action in a specified way

   his suit wears well

9. (tr) to harass or weaken

10. (of time) to pass or be passed slowly

11. slang (tr) to accept

    Larry won't wear that argument

12. to change the tack of a sailing vessel, esp a square-rigger, by coming about so that the wind passes astern

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noun

1. the act of wearing or state of being worn

2. 1. anything designed to be worn

      leisure wear

   2. ( in combination )

      nightwear

3. deterioration from constant or normal use or action

4. the quality of resisting the effects of constant use

Wear ² British  

/ wɪə /

noun

1. a river in NE England, rising in NW Durham and flowing southeast then northeast to the North Sea at Sunderland. Length: 105 km (65 miles)

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wear ³ British  

/ wɛə /

verb

1. nautical to tack by gybing instead of by going through stays

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wear More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing wear

• hair shirt, wear a
• if the shoe fits, wear it
• none the worse for (wear)
• worse for wear

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• wearer
  noun
• rewear
  verb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• wearing
  present
• worn
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• wear
  simple
• wears
  simple
• have worn
  perfect
• has worn
  perfect
• am wearing
  progressive
• are wearing
  progressive
• is wearing
  progressive
• have been wearing
  perfect progressive
• has been wearing
  perfect progressive

Past

• wore
  simple
• had worn
  perfect
• was wearing
  progressive
• were wearing
  progressive
• had been wearing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will wear
  simple
• will have worn
  perfect
• will be wearing
  progressive
• will have been wearing
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

wear Wear wears wore worn wearing

The wear and tear is cumulative, adding up over time like it does for all contact sports.

From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026

Hall was also keen to strut her stuff, saying she wanted to stay long enough to "wear all my fabulous outfits".

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

Around the time, it was trendy for people to wear squirt toys shaped like zoo animals as necklaces or keychains.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

“Communication was so difficult that I had to wear gun-shooting earmuffs to focus.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

“Do you want to wear some beads?” a small voice asks.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

She has also held roles at Women's Wear Daily and the Daily Beast.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

"We will continue to back our volunteers every step of the way as they work tirelessly to safeguard the River Wear for generations to come."

From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026

On a cold November morning, designer Isaac Mizrahi gets up, leaves his apartment, and trudges to the corner newsstand to pick up a copy of Women’s Wear Daily.

From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2026

How to get the look: Who, What, Wear, external says think about accessories - scarfs, crochet beanie caps or eye-catching hair clips, charms or cuffs.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

Wear the blue satin dress hanging in your closet and leave your hair down.

From "Time Bomb" by Joelle Charbonneau

"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

Now he is 8 years old and wears it whenever he goes out to play.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026

“It’s too much input. That’s why Jeff wears the Spider-Man goggles,” he adds, referring to the ELO frontman’s ever-present aviator shades.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 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 wears scuffed shoes and a striped necktie as a belt.

From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin

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

He wore the jersey in game three of the 1998 NBA Finals, his last season with the Chicago Bulls.

From BBC ● 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

He had a beard and an eye-patch too, And for all I know, he wore one shoe And ate for his lunch a bowl of goo.

From "Wolfie & Fly" by Cary Fagan

“It’s exciting to be doing something in a genre that is well worn, but to be doing something new.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

The highly technical products are designed for climbers, but the rapid brand growth has also been fueled by “gorpcore,” a fashion trend where technical gear is worn as high-end streetwear.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

Ermanno Scervino, for his part, unveiled a "corsair" woman, in a wide red and beige jacket with gold buttons, worn over a mini-short.

From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026

And that day, Erika was too worn out and too upset to be patient anymore.

From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026

He shoved through some huckleberry bushes, wishing that he had worn jeans instead of shorts, and long sleeves rather than a T-shirt.

From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret

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

As her husband of more than 40 years lay dying in a hospital bed, Kate Baxter was not even allowed to hold his hand without wearing protective gloves.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

It was Disney Day at Sierra Canyon High, so standout sophomore linebacker Eli Zamorano showed up at football practice wearing Mickey Mouse ears atop his head on Monday.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2026

“What’s been exciting is seeing it resonate well beyond the athletes we initially imagined wearing it.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

A young boy wearing a newsboy cap twisted around and stared at me with an unsmiling look.

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

Related Words

• bear
• carry
• cover
• display
• don
• get into
• get on
• put on
• show
• slip on
• sport
• wrap