overwear

American  

[oh-ver-wair] / ˌoʊ vərˈwɛər /

verb (used with object)

overwore, overworn, overwearing

1. to use or wear excessively; wear out; exhaust; tax.

   needlessly overwearing her best workers; phrases overworn by repetition.

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Etymology

Origin of overwear

First recorded in 1570–80; over- + wear

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

overwear overworn

He lumbered between courtrooms with his cane and black leather bag, in a black suit he insisted on always wearing until he was acquitted, the jacket shiny in places from overwear.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2021

I have also with him leggings of heavier cloth for overwear.

From The first New Testament printed in English by

We were thin, with faces burned, withered, frozen and torn in fissures, with clothes ugly from overwear.

From My Attainment of the Pole by Frederick A. Cook

Where lines like “don’t give up; don’t stop believing; keep the faith” can transform from overworn platitudes into a chant of quiet confidence and inflate the listener’s heart like the Grinch on Christmas.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2025

But for British dramas fictional cops cannot get away from the cheaper and often overworn suits favoured by their non-fictional contemporaries.

From The Guardian ● Jun. 8, 2013

With watching overworn, with cares oppress'd, Unhappy I had laid me down to rest, And heavy sleep my weary limbs possess'd.

From The Aeneid English by Virgil

All conversation is political; every man is a battery, with brushes overworn, and gives out blue sparks when you set him going on the common topic.

From The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg and Other Stories by Mark Twain

The frayed and overworn gut broke at a knot, and with a loose roll he dropped back towards the deep. 

From Angling Sketches by Andrew Lang

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