weary
Americanadjective
-
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)
-
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:
Judging by some of the weary facial expressions from those undertaking this training, the same thought has crossed their minds.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
But consumers, weary of paying high prices for just about everything, may not see it that way much longer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 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
Sound possesses power, whether you’ll be weary from dancing or blissed out from the frequencies massaging your nerves.
From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2026
Together they sat on the ledge sharing a canteen of water, both weary and dusty.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
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
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
Dumbledore sighed again, and he looked older, and wearier, than ever.
From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling
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
He is growing exigeant, jealous, presuming; he amuses me no longer—he wearies.
From Cecil Castlemaine's Gage, Lady Marabout's Troubles, and Other Stories by Ouida
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
Waves of attacks pounded down on Paris St.-Germain, now dizzied and wearied.
From New York Times ● May 3, 2024
He’s a sensitive hero with vigor and swagger, a traveler in love with the universe instead of wearied by its greed and destructiveness.
From Salon ● Dec. 25, 2023
Then a seaborne death soft as this hand of mist will come upon you when you are wearied out with rich old age, your country folk in blessed peace around you.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
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
It's a wearying cycle of failure from a team that's still stymied by its own weak psychology.
From BBC ● Nov. 20, 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
In the fall of 1982, after two wearying years of quarantines that ultimately extended through six counties and some 3,000 square miles, California declared victory.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2024
All my motions focalized on pretending to be that guileless schoolgirl who had nothing more wearying to think about than mid-term exams.
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
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.
