worn-out
Americanadjective
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worn or used beyond repair.
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depleted of energy, strength, or enthusiasm; exhausted; fatigued.
adjective
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worn or used until threadbare, valueless, or useless
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exhausted; very weary
Etymology
Origin of worn-out
First recorded in 1585–95
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.
Fans sit on plastic chairs arranged on the sandy floor, their chatter mingling with the hum of a worn-out generator.
From Barron's • Jun. 18, 2026
During the winter, temperatures dropped to -25C, so old, worn-out sleepings bags were of little use when they slept on the frozen ground or a cold concrete floor.
From BBC • May 17, 2026
Hundreds of watches, an encyclopedic knowledge of the movie and its production, a worn-out DVD copy hanging on by a thread, and a whole career later, I still owe it everything.
From Salon • May 1, 2026
It’s a clever line, but worn-out New Jerseyans seeking a change might be more likely to turn out if they knew how he’d deliver.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 10, 2025
We left the show worn-out and weary, knowing that the next day I would be gone and Kia would go from being the baby of the family to an only child.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
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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.