worse for wear

1. Also, the worse for the wear. In poor physical condition owing to long use; also, drunk. For example, This television set is really worse for the wear; we'll have to replace it, or He'd better not drive home; he's definitely the worse for the wear. [c. a.d. 1000] For an antonym, see none the worse for.

Example Sentences

Lord Fredrick looked a bit worse for wear himself, with scratches on his hands and face and a lingering tendency to clear his throat in a particularly barky way, but at least the itching and howling seemed to have subsided.

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He dined on venison Scotch egg washed down with Buckfast tonic wine, which Fallon said had left him feeling a bit worse for wear.

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"It was the morning after a heavy night and Liam was worse for wear," recalls Nick, who was at Abbey Road as a studio engineer on their third album Be Here Now.

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If Dyer has grown sentimental about the England of his upbringing, his nostalgia is a subtle critique of how optimism in big government has grown worse for wear — “Homework” bursts with working-class pride, a fond and mournful belief in the possibility of the British welfare state.

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Griffin Mill is also the name of the murderous studio executive Tim Robbins plays in “The Player,” though whether he is meant to actually be that character, worse for wear 30 years on, is left to your imagination, if you happen to notice it all.

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Related Words

• crummy 
• decaying www.thesaurus.com
• decrepit 
• desolate 
• dilapidated 
• dingy 
• pitiful 
• ramshackle 
• ratty 
• rickety 
• run down 
• scruffy 
• seedy 
• shoddy 
• squalid 
• tacky 
• tattered 
• threadbare 
• worn