tired

¹

[ tahyuhrd ]

adjective

1. exhausted, as by exertion; fatigued or sleepy:

   They provided water to a tired runner.

   Synonyms: enervated

   Antonyms: energetic

2. weary or bored (usually followed by of ):

   I'm tired of eating the same food every day.

3. hackneyed; stale, as a joke, phrase, or sermon:

   The standup comedian's tired old gags got no laughs.

4. Informal. impatient or disgusted:

   You make me tired.

tired

²

[ tahyuhrd ]

adjective

1. having a tire or tires.

tired

/ ˈtaɪəd /

adjective

1. weary; fatigued
2. foll by of
   1. having lost interest in; bored

      I'm tired of playing cards

   2. having lost patience with; exasperated by

      I'm tired of his eternal excuses

3. hackneyed; stale

   the same tired old jokes

4. tired and emotional euphemistic.
   tired and emotional slightly drunk

Derived Forms

• ˈtiredly, adverb
• ˈtiredness, noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of tired¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English tyred; tire ¹; -ed ²( def )

Origin of tired²

First recorded in 1890–95; tire ² + -ed ³

Idioms and Phrases

In addition to the idiom beginning with tired , also see dead on one's feet (tired) ; sick and tired .

Synonym Study

Tired, exhausted, fatigued, wearied, weary suggest a condition in which a large part of one's energy and vitality has been consumed. One who is tired has used up a considerable part of their bodily or mental resources: to feel tired at the end of the day. One who is exhausted is completely drained of energy and vitality, usually because of arduous or long-sustained effort: The horse was left exhausted after a hard run. One who is fatigued has consumed energy to a point where rest and sleep are demanded: A good workout can leave you feeling rather pleasantly fatigued. One who is wearied has been under protracted exertion or strain that has gradually worn out their strength: The sentry sat down, wearied by a long vigil. Weary suggests a more permanent condition than wearied: The family is weary of struggling against misfortunes.

Example Sentences

In the early 1990s, Gilbert remembers arriving in Melbourne a week before the tournament and trying to race his way into playing shape, only to feel tired two days later.

From FiveThirtyEight

On Christmas Day, she said she was tired and went back to bed.

From Washington Post

After hours and hours of boiling, you may get a tired of watching your cauldron bubble, but don’t give in to the temptation to wander off and work on some other project.

From Popular-Science

Isolating in her bedroom, Shorter felt more tired every day.

From Washington Post

In my late teens, I quickly tired of sleeping on friends’ couches.

From Washington Post

Kim Kardashian Breaks the InternetTalking about butts in relation to Kim Kardashian had become tired.

From The Daily Beast

I answered his questions perfunctorily, begging off that I was soon to return to my dorm, as I was tired.

From The Daily Beast

If your ears are tired of slick auto-tuned vocals, pick up this disk for an aural detox.

From The Daily Beast

But Winter is dead, Clapton is tired of life on the road, and King unreliable in concert.

From The Daily Beast

Hitchcock saw human behavior fresh, even in a tired form like melodrama.

From The Daily Beast

It ended on a complaint that she was 'tired rather and spending my time at full length on a deck-chair in the garden.'

From Project Gutenberg

But this time, with all his cunning and perspiration, he could not induce another throb in the tired engines.

From Project Gutenberg

When he gets quite large the boy will get tired of having him for a pet, and perhaps bring him back.

From Project Gutenberg

But I am afraid you would very soon get tired of us, and I ought to tell you, frankly, that our little home is to be—a broken up.

From Project Gutenberg

Aunt Ri was looking forward to the rest with great anticipation; she was heartily tired of being on the move.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• annoyed
• bored
• distressed
• drained
• exasperated
• fatigued
• irritated
• overworked
• sleepy
• stale