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
“Investors may be weary of CoreWeave trying to boost its performance through financial derivatives at a time their core AI cloud business is seeing increased competition,” D.A.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 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
They sat back and enjoyed the rhythmic ride, mesmerized into a weary silence by the fullness of their stomachs and the steady movements of the wobbly cart.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
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
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
But Radha is older, wearier and more beaten down than Nola, and she takes a while longer to take ownership of her story.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2020
“I don’t care,” Miranda says in a wearier tone, about the current president — who’s been critical of the show on Twitter before — showing up to see his musical or not.
From Washington Post ● May 31, 2018
The wearier she grew, the heavier Constance seemed.
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
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
Cruise seems weariest of all, flogging outdated merchandise he can’t even pretend to believe in.
From Slate ● Jun. 8, 2017
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
Despite the technical difficulty of writing almost entirely in dialogue, Compton-Burnett rarely wearies or falters.
From Time Magazine Archive
A 100-year-old scarlet oak has some privileges when it suddenly wearies.
From Time Magazine Archive
Such monotony of excellence wearies him, and the garment of praise is accompanied by a spirit of heaviness.
From The Gentle Reader by Samuel McChord Crothers
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
Although the Diocese of Orange doesn’t keep demographic figures on its congregants, the Knights of Peter Claver leaders shook their heads with wearied smiles about how few Black Catholics they’ve met at their own parishes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 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
Summer sat back on his haunches and howled, while Shaggy dog wearied the net, shaking it in his teeth.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
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
“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” brilliantly depicts the wearying search for sanctuary that so many of us go through in our adult lives.
From Salon ● Oct. 24, 2025
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
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
After a week of wearying rejection, the newness had worn off.
From "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin
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.
