wearily
Americanadverb
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in a way that shows physical or mental exhaustion.
Amid a rain of debris and the noise of a small avalanche, two small figures drag themselves painfully and wearily from the ruins.
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in a way that shows impatience, dissatisfaction, or overfamiliarity.
The Staten Island Ferry is usually a scene of seasoned commuters wearily ignoring the snap-happy tourists who arrive in droves to take pictures of the Statue of Liberty.
Seasoned activists wearily explain that these youth have been at higher risk for quite some time—but thanks for noticing.
Etymology
Origin of wearily
Explanation
When you do something wearily, you do it with great exhaustion, like finishing a big project for school late at night when you're so tired that your eyes can barely stay open. Coming from the Old English word werig, meaning "exhausted," wearily shows the effort and struggle to keep going when energy is low, painting a clear picture of extreme tiredness. A traveler might walk wearily at the end of a long journey, each step feeling heavier than the last. Similarly, a student might complete their final exam wearily, their energy drained after hours of concentration.
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.
An unenlightening spectacle last week saw Porter float above the fray, wearily raising her eyebrows over the squabbling among her competitors.
From Barron's • May 5, 2026
“I wish I had known all this earlier,” Maggie said wearily.
From MarketWatch • Nov. 14, 2025
She captures that delicate human contradiction of living wearily with everyday sadness alongside the simultaneous desire to keep going.
From BBC • Oct. 18, 2025
Indoors, people everywhere are assessing interior wind and water damage and wearily calculating how much time and money it will take to get their lives back to where they were before the storm.
From Slate • Oct. 21, 2024
After a short rest, the men wearily harnessed themselves to the boat once more, and McNeish took his place with the others.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
