wear off
phrasal verb
wore off; worn off; wearing off; wears off
: to gradually decrease, disappear, or stop
The painkillers wore off after a couple of hours.
The shine on the leather will wear off pretty quickly.
After you drive a new car for a while, the novelty wears off.
Examples of wear off in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
As the novelty has worn off, Carter claims he’s become the recipient of an unexpected amount of anger.
—
Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 16 May 2024
Los Angeles mourns pioneer and friend Sam Rubin When the initial shock wore off, tributes, tales and memories flowed from throughout Los Angeles after the sudden death of an area icon, entertainment journalist Sam Rubin.
—Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 12 May 2024
Rare White Deer Sighting Turns Student's Trip into a 'Fairytale'
The coloring, which wore off over several weeks, was caused by biliverdin.
—Kelli Bender, Peoplemag, 1 May 2024
After nearly three decades of that happening time and time again, the effect hasn’t worn off.
—Alexandra Schonfeld, Peoplemag, 18 Apr. 2024
The novelty of Zoom calls with friends was wearing off.
—Michael Charboneau, Los Angeles Times, 18 Apr. 2024
The novelty of swiping has worn off, and there hasn’t been a major innovation beyond it.
—Lora Kelley, The Atlantic, 10 Apr. 2024
The shine of Varadkar’s government wore off during his second stint as taoiseach; Harris inherits a governing coalition facing a difficult fight to return to office.
—Rob Picheta, CNN, 9 Apr. 2024
Half-life of caffeine:There's a reason why your coffee wears off.
—Delaney Nothaft, USA TODAY, 9 Jan. 2024
Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 16 May 2024
Los Angeles mourns pioneer and friend Sam Rubin When the initial shock wore off, tributes, tales and memories flowed from throughout Los Angeles after the sudden death of an area icon, entertainment journalist Sam Rubin.
—Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 12 May 2024
Rare White Deer Sighting Turns Student's Trip into a 'Fairytale'
The coloring, which wore off over several weeks, was caused by biliverdin.
—Kelli Bender, Peoplemag, 1 May 2024
After nearly three decades of that happening time and time again, the effect hasn’t worn off.
—Alexandra Schonfeld, Peoplemag, 18 Apr. 2024
The novelty of Zoom calls with friends was wearing off.
—Michael Charboneau, Los Angeles Times, 18 Apr. 2024
The novelty of swiping has worn off, and there hasn’t been a major innovation beyond it.
—Lora Kelley, The Atlantic, 10 Apr. 2024
The shine of Varadkar’s government wore off during his second stint as taoiseach; Harris inherits a governing coalition facing a difficult fight to return to office.
—Rob Picheta, CNN, 9 Apr. 2024
Half-life of caffeine:There's a reason why your coffee wears off.
—Delaney Nothaft, USA TODAY, 9 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wear off.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near wear off
Cite this Entry
“Wear off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wear%20off. Accessed 23 May. 2024.
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