wear thin

1. Be weakened or diminished gradually, as in My patience is wearing thin . [Late 1800s]

2. Become less convincing, acceptable, or popular, as in His excuses are wearing thin . [First half of 1990s] Both usages transfer the thinning of a physical object, such as cloth, to nonmaterial characteristics.

Example Sentences

It wore thin when the likes of Ipswich and Leicester were leaving north London with three points.

From BBC

"Its rapid expansion in recent years has sparked concerns that its 'exclusive' label was wearing thin."

From BBC

In a city whose population is more than half Latino, that stance is wearing thin with critics who claim that the department is tacitly supporting ICE by providing crowd control when raids draw angry protesters.

From Los Angeles Times

This year, as public patience wears thin, the city is trying a different tack: a PR campaign to gloss up the public image of lovebugs.

From Los Angeles Times

He managed to keep it from her for a while, but by the time he got to high school, his protests of "that vape's not mine" had started to wear thin.

From BBC

Related Words

• erode 
• frazzle 
• unravel 
• wear away www.thesaurus.com