weary
Americanadjective
-
wearier,
comparative
-
weariest
superlative
-
physically or mentally exhausted by hard work, exertion, strain, etc.; fatigued; tired.
weary eyes;
a weary brain.
- Antonyms:
- energetic
-
characterized by or causing fatigue.
a weary journey.
-
impatient or dissatisfied with something (often followed byof ).
weary of excuses.
-
characterized by or causing impatience or dissatisfaction; tedious; irksome.
a weary wait.
- Antonyms:
- interesting
verb (used with or without object)
-
wearies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
wearied,
past participle, past
-
wearying
present participle
-
to make or become weary; fatigue or tire.
The long hours of work have wearied me.
- Synonyms:
- exhaust
-
to make or grow impatient or dissatisfied with something or at having too much of something (often followed byof ).
The long drive had wearied us of desert scenery.
We had quickly wearied at such witless entertainment.
- Antonyms:
- interest
adjective
-
tired or exhausted
-
causing fatigue or exhaustion
-
caused by or suggestive of weariness
a weary laugh
-
(postpositive; often foll by of or with) discontented or bored, esp by the long continuance of something
verb
-
to make or become weary
-
to make or become discontented or impatient, esp by the long continuance of something
Synonym Usage
See tired 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
wearinessnoun
-
outwearyverb (used with object)
-
self-wearyadjective
-
unwearyadjective
-
unwearyingadjective
-
wearyingadjective
-
wearilyadverb
-
wearyinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
wearysimple
-
weariessimple
-
have weariedperfect
-
has weariedperfect
-
am wearyingprogressive
-
are wearyingprogressive
-
is wearyingprogressive
-
have been wearyingperfect progressive
-
has been wearyingperfect progressive
Past
-
weariedsimple
-
had weariedperfect
-
was wearyingprogressive
-
were wearyingprogressive
-
had been wearyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of weary
First recorded before 900; (adjective) Middle English wery, Old English wērig; cognate with Old Saxon -wōrig; akin to Old English wōrian “to crumble, break down, totter”; (verb) Middle English werien, Old English wēr(i)gian, derivative of the adjective
Explanation
Weary as an adjective means "very tired or worn out," like weary students who finished a long week of studying and taking tests. Weary comes from the Old English word werig, meaning "tired." It can also describe being extremely bored and sick of something, like on a long drive, you might grow weary of your father's singing voice. As a verb, weary means "to exhaust or wear out," like when the children you are babysitting weary you with their game of running away every time you tell them to get ready to leave the park.
Vocabulary lists containing weary
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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.
See Examples For:
Cubans are not shy about admitting that they are increasingly weary of the constant disruptions to daily life.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
He's weary, but at least has a story to tell about his day.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
Despite facing higher business costs, Feldschuh decided against raising menu prices this season, cautious of turning off customers who are weary of inflation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026
The main inflation barometer used to set U.S. interest rates rose topped 4% in May for the first time in three years — but price relief might be finally on the way for weary consumers.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026
His chest heaved once, as if his large heart, weary of despotic constriction, had expanded, despite the will, and made a vigorous bound for the attainment of liberty.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
As time passes, you see two smiling, handsome young men change, gradually appearing wearier as war strips away their innocence.
From BBC ● May 25, 2023
And the seemingly endless restrictions leave more ordinary Chinese people wearier by the day.
From New York Times ● Sep. 5, 2022
Officials across the U.S. are again weighing how and whether to impose mask mandates as COVID-19 infections soar and the American public grows ever wearier of pandemic-related restrictions.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 12, 2022
The motel I had booked looked wearier than ecstatic reviews of vintage Americana had led me to believe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2021
He felt wearier than he had ever felt before.
From "Touching Spirit Bear" by Ben Mikaelsen
That it happens this way every year, offering an annual day of hope to even the weariest baseball cities, remains somehow powerful.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 30, 2023
The sun has barely set on a roaring summer concert season and a busy fall slate ensures there will be no rest for even the weariest local music fans.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 8, 2022
The under-fire Steve Bruce must have met news of Ronaldo’s return with the weariest of sighs.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 11, 2021
Though Lajovic’s shirt was soaked through with sweat early on, Paire was the one who looked the weariest, hunching forward and resting a hand on each knee as he settled in slowly to return serves.
From New York Times ● Aug. 30, 2021
Do I take both before dinner, which is usually about 7:30, leaving an unbroken two-and-a-half-hour stretch when I’m weariest, between 8:30 and 11:00?
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
But numerous media reports suggest that he has been marginalised as Trump wearies of being controlled and seeks to cut loose.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 30, 2018
“Joy wearies me, and I hate happiness when I catch a glimpse of it in a human expression,” he told Newsweek in 1963.
From New York Times ● Jul. 7, 2017
Richard wearies of making spaniel eyes at the termagant widow and rejects her quite brutally when she decides he'll do.
From Time Magazine Archive
It wearies me to be thought of as timid, when I've had to do things that were so risky as to be almost crazy.
From Time Magazine Archive
I have an almost incessant influx of visitors, which sometimes wearies me; but then I love to see them, and I enjoy the occasional quiet hour all the more.
From Memoir of Mary L. Ware, Wife of Henry Ware, Jr. by Edward B. Hall
That night, Frometa listened to critics like Trujillo slam her anew while wearing a wearied smile.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 12, 2026
This was not something you could have accused her of over the summer, and was perhaps a sign of a body and mind wearied by nine months on the road.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2025
But Riggs delivered a message of hope for Americans wearied by attacks on voting rights.
From Salon ● Jul. 31, 2025
She recounted to The Washington Post in 2011 how she had already wearied of the rigors of the road before her first stroke.
From New York Times ● Jun. 17, 2024
We could not see them but their Cerberus tumult filled the black wood and wearied us still more.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
For 35 years, Mr. Self has continued in a similar vein, dazzling and sometimes wearying his readers with his madcap plots and lexical pyrotechnics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
The cutesy performance shtick around a shoestring variety show — imagine Pee-wee’s Playhouse without the bewitching oddity — grows wearying.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2025
That’s not to say that “Our Little Secret” isn’t enjoyable all on its own, only that it’s become wearying to watch Lohan confined to the limits of a holiday movie made for a streamer.
From Salon ● Dec. 3, 2024
They found it here, too, pummelling a wearying France in the closing stages until Conor Murray gleefully booted the ball into the stands to seal what is probably his side's greatest win over France.
From BBC ● Feb. 3, 2024
At the end of Van Ness, after several foot- wearying miles, we came to a warehouse.
From "Dragonwings" by Laurence Yep
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.
