outworn

American  

[out-wawrn, -wohrn] / ˈaʊtˈwɔrn, -ˈwoʊrn /

adjective

1. out-of-date, outmoded, or obsolete.

   outworn ideas; outworn methods.

2. worn-out, as clothes.

3. exhausted in strength or endurance, as persons.

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verb

1. past participle of outwear.

outworn British  

/ ˌaʊtˈwɔːn, ˈaʊtwɔːn /

adjective

1. no longer accepted, used, believed, etc; obsolete or outmoded

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Other Word Forms

• unoutworn adjective

Etymology

Origin of outworn

First recorded in 1555–65; out- + worn

Example Sentences

“I had outworn my usefulness,” Watt said of his decision, adding that others “wouldn’t get off my case” about his insulting coal advisory panel comment.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 8, 2023

Could I remount the river of my years To the first fountain of our smiles and tears I would not trace again its stream of hours Between its outworn banks of withered flowers.

From Salon • Dec. 25, 2021

That “hacky, grinding, stinking, outworn, spaceship yarn,” as science fiction author Wilson Tucker memorably put it when he coined the term in 1941.

From Washington Post • Dec. 17, 2021

Instead he falls back on older ones, long outworn.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 13, 2017

Regularly he revolted against outworn techniques and materials.

From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck

Related Words

• ancient
• antique
• archaic
• corny
• dated
• odd
• old
• old-time
• outdated
• outmoded
• primitive