weary
Americanadjective
-
wearier,
comparative
-
weariest
superlative
-
physically or mentally exhausted by hard work, exertion, strain, etc.; fatigued; tired.
weary eyes;
a weary brain.
- Antonyms:
- energetic
-
characterized by or causing fatigue.
a weary journey.
-
impatient or dissatisfied with something (often followed byof ).
weary of excuses.
-
characterized by or causing impatience or dissatisfaction; tedious; irksome.
a weary wait.
- Antonyms:
- interesting
verb (used with or without object)
-
wearies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
wearied,
past participle, past
-
wearying
present participle
-
to make or become weary; fatigue or tire.
The long hours of work have wearied me.
- Synonyms:
- exhaust
-
to make or grow impatient or dissatisfied with something or at having too much of something (often followed byof ).
The long drive had wearied us of desert scenery.
We had quickly wearied at such witless entertainment.
- Antonyms:
- interest
adjective
-
tired or exhausted
-
causing fatigue or exhaustion
-
caused by or suggestive of weariness
a weary laugh
-
(postpositive; often foll by of or with) discontented or bored, esp by the long continuance of something
verb
-
to make or become weary
-
to make or become discontented or impatient, esp by the long continuance of something
Synonym Usage
See tired 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
wearinessnoun
-
outwearyverb (used with object)
-
self-wearyadjective
-
unwearyadjective
-
unwearyingadjective
-
wearyingadjective
-
wearilyadverb
-
wearyinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
wearysimple
-
weariessimple
-
have weariedperfect
-
has weariedperfect
-
am wearyingprogressive
-
are wearyingprogressive
-
is wearyingprogressive
-
have been wearyingperfect progressive
-
has been wearyingperfect progressive
Past
-
weariedsimple
-
had weariedperfect
-
was wearyingprogressive
-
were wearyingprogressive
-
had been wearyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of weary
First recorded before 900; (adjective) Middle English wery, Old English wērig; cognate with Old Saxon -wōrig; akin to Old English wōrian “to crumble, break down, totter”; (verb) Middle English werien, Old English wēr(i)gian, derivative of the adjective
Explanation
Weary as an adjective means "very tired or worn out," like weary students who finished a long week of studying and taking tests. Weary comes from the Old English word werig, meaning "tired." It can also describe being extremely bored and sick of something, like on a long drive, you might grow weary of your father's singing voice. As a verb, weary means "to exhaust or wear out," like when the children you are babysitting weary you with their game of running away every time you tell them to get ready to leave the park.
Vocabulary lists containing weary
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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:
The weary soldiers have made it safely to the command post.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
“We’ve talked to everyone we can,” Al-Drimly said, his voice weary.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2026
“I’m just a weary pilgrim trying to find what feels like home,” she sings.
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2026
LONDON—Britain’s new prime minister arrived in Downing Street last week promising stability for a weary nation bewildered after churning through six leaders in seven years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Dad sat hunched over in his recliner, his weary gaze glued to the computer in his lap.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
As time passes, you see two smiling, handsome young men change, gradually appearing wearier as war strips away their innocence.
From BBC ● May 25, 2023
Golovkin finally upped his work rate and made progress against a wearier Canelo in the late rounds, but it wasn’t enough.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 17, 2022
And the seemingly endless restrictions leave more ordinary Chinese people wearier by the day.
From New York Times ● Sep. 5, 2022
The motel I had booked looked wearier than ecstatic reviews of vintage Americana had led me to believe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2021
Her weary body and wearier mind, which had seemed, in her exhaustion, to be drifting away from each other like untethered boats, made some peace with the tides.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
That it happens this way every year, offering an annual day of hope to even the weariest baseball cities, remains somehow powerful.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 30, 2023
With what had to be the weariest left hand in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday signed the last of nearly 1,000 bills he approved this year.
From New York Times ● Oct. 3, 2022
The sun has barely set on a roaring summer concert season and a busy fall slate ensures there will be no rest for even the weariest local music fans.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 8, 2022
The under-fire Steve Bruce must have met news of Ronaldo’s return with the weariest of sighs.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 11, 2021
Do I take both before dinner, which is usually about 7:30, leaving an unbroken two-and-a-half-hour stretch when I’m weariest, between 8:30 and 11:00?
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
But numerous media reports suggest that he has been marginalised as Trump wearies of being controlled and seeks to cut loose.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 30, 2018
“Joy wearies me, and I hate happiness when I catch a glimpse of it in a human expression,” he told Newsweek in 1963.
From New York Times ● Jul. 7, 2017
It wearies me to be thought of as timid, when I've had to do things that were so risky as to be almost crazy.
From Time Magazine Archive
A 100-year-old scarlet oak has some privileges when it suddenly wearies.
From Time Magazine Archive
A person or thing that wearies by prolixity or dullness; a tiresome person or affair; any person or thing which causes ennui.
From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (2nd 100 Pages) by Noah Webster
This was not something you could have accused her of over the summer, and was perhaps a sign of a body and mind wearied by nine months on the road.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2025
But in a wearied tone, he told me “in SELA, sometimes it isn’t about someone getting rid of corruption and cleaning up the city.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2025
My eyes have felt similarly as of late, wearied and underlined by dark circles after all their hours spent desperately seeking something exquisite.
From Salon ● Apr. 16, 2025
The problem with cramming for the Oscars, as I do every year to varying degrees of success, is that it renders one cinematically wearied.
From New York Times ● Mar. 9, 2024
For when they had wearied of hurling insults at my father's back, the two gentlemen began to discuss their host - that is to say, my father's employer, Mr John Silvers.
From "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro
At first it was staggering, the boom, boom, boom, watching both players crack heavy serve after heavy serve, but it started to become a little wearying, like watching an extended game of Whac-A-Mole.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
Bram, his husband, has a demanding job at a museum in Rotterdam and Arnold’s bitterness has grown wearying.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026
That’s not to say that “Our Little Secret” isn’t enjoyable all on its own, only that it’s become wearying to watch Lohan confined to the limits of a holiday movie made for a streamer.
From Salon ● Dec. 3, 2024
Mr. Irwin, 71, previously an account manager for a local business, is wearying of yard work and snow shoveling, and finding workers to do those chores instead has become difficult.
From New York Times ● Apr. 20, 2024
On the contrary, she found Lady Constance’s frequent tirades rather wearying.
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
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