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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

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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)

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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

"It might be wishful thinking, but I really believe Jude has unfinished business at Birmingham. I can see a scenario before he retires where he gets an opportunity to wear the number 22 again."

From BBC ● Nov. 12, 2026

The possible explanations included ordinary circulation wear and corrosion, mechanical damage occurring after minting, later compression under restricted conditions, and deformation during the original manufacturing process.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 11, 2026

I also was born with a “lazy” left eye, so I had to wear an adhesive patch over my strong eye to force the left one to work with the right.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 10, 2026

“The children’s wear market is tough because there’s a declining birth rate,” said Neil Saunders, a retail analyst at GlobalData.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 10, 2026

Her graying hair is in a low ponytail, and she doesn’t wear makeup.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Two teenage boys and a teenage girl who died when a car they were in ended up in the River Wear have been named by police.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 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

The ancestral home of George Washington's family - Washington Old Hall, Tyne and Wear - is just one such location, where local young people are set to read from the document on 4 July itself.

From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026

“Well said. I didn’t set out to become a pirate. I’d hoped to become a barrister. Wear a powdered wig like a sexy beast. Hot!”

From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray

Gary drives a Mercedes, wears nice suits, keeps a gun holstered at his ankle.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 12, 2026

Charlie Chaplin’s famous bumbling, mustachioed character known as the Tramp, who waddles and wears a bowler hat.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2026

When enamel wears away, or gums recede, exposed dentin can make teeth particularly sensitive to hot, cold, sweet, or acidic foods and drinks.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 5, 2026

Alex Israel wears ERL argyle sweater, crest polo, track shorts and flip flops.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026

He wears his usual tavern apron and cap, but the expression he wears is troubled.

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

But his hands were manicured, and he wore expensive English-made clothing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 11, 2026

It also notes that she "wore a drop pearl earring belonging to the late Princess Diana".

From BBC ● Nov. 9, 2026

Halsey sported the Wekafore hair salon longsleeve tee and transparent trousers over mesh camo shorts, and her longtime partner, Monique McWilliams, wore a sleek galaxy bodysuit.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 8, 2026

Celmins, ever practical, ever sly, wore an elevated, understated black velvet pantsuit.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 8, 2026

He wore the dress uniform of the US Navy, blue wool cutaway coat with two rows of gilt buttons.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

They have spherical white heads and dark visors, similar to a motorcycle helmet, and sport black shawls around their neck in the style of a dupatta worn by women in the region.

From Barron's ● Nov. 8, 2026

Costume designer Libby Dempster works with a variety of artisans, including a weaver, the armory department, the jewelry department, pattern cutters, a textiles team and a breakdown team, who make the clothes look worn in.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026

He has only worn the number 12 shirt for Gloucester on one occasion this season, and started just once at inside centre for Wales in a World Cup warm-up game against England in August 2023.

From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026

It is designed to repair enamel that has been weakened by mineral loss or worn away by erosion, while also reinforcing enamel that remains healthy.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 5, 2026

Both had once been exquisite, but now the plush had worn away at the elbows and hips.

From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell

But with manufacturers exhausting internal cuts and long-term contracts rolling over, the ability of retailers to shield customers from higher prices is wearing thin.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2026

Green Day appeared to respond with frontman Billie Joe Armstrong wearing a Brat baseball cap during their performance the following weekend.

From BBC ● Nov. 11, 2026

His friend Giovanni Giglio, 23, wearing aviator sunglasses and sipping the herbal drink mate, said he appreciated Leo's message that AI should be used as a tool rather than become something essential.

From Barron's ● Nov. 10, 2026

As an experienced runner, Tatum said he knows to prepare by wearing sunscreen, drinking water early and often and not overexerting himself at the outset.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 10, 2026

I think of that optical illusion—an old lady with a crooked nose from one angle, a young one wearing a choker from another.

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison

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Related Words

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• carry
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