well-worn
Americanadjective
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showing the effects of extensive use or wear.
well-worn carpets.
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trite, hackneyed, or stale.
a well-worn saying.
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fittingly or becomingly worn or borne.
a well-worn reserve that never seems haughty.
adjective
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so much used as to be affected by wear
a well-worn coat
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used too often; hackneyed
a well-worn phrase
Etymology
Origin of well-worn
First recorded in 1615–25
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.
“Ready or Not 2” and “They Will Kill You” took one last swing at the well-worn eat-the-rich occult subgenre.
From Salon • May 25, 2026
It’s a well-worn path in the quantum sector.
From Barron's • May 14, 2026
But the carrier would be taking a well-worn page from the playbook that major U.S. airlines have followed in recent months.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 22, 2026
Mr. Jacobs and Ms. Coppola have known each other for so long that they perhaps rely, like many close friends, on conversational shorthand so as not to replay well-worn material.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026
There were no old well-worn chairs, no tables littered with magazines and papers, seldom if ever read, but left there from long custom, because Maxim’s father, or even his grandfather perhaps, had wished it so.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
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.
