weary

¹wea·ry

adj \ˈwir-ē\

wea·ri·erwea·ri·est

Definition of WEARY

1

: exhausted in strength, endurance, vigor, or freshness

2

: expressing or characteristic of weariness <a weary sign>

3

: having one's patience, tolerance, or pleasure exhausted —used with of <soon grew weary of waiting>

4

: wearisome

— wea·ri·ly \ˈwir-ə-lē\ adverb

— wea·ri·ness \ˈwir-ē-nəs\ noun

Examples of WEARY

1. I need to rest my weary eyes.
2. The miners were weary after a long shift.
3. She was weary from years of housework.
4. I would remember the potential for return, all things circling as they do, into something like fullness, small moments of completion that weave together, like Penelope's cloth, doing and undoing themselves by turns, an unfinished pattern that guides a —wearytraveler home … —Paul Sorrell, Parabola, May 2000
5. But for the wilted weeds that managed to jut forth in wiry clumps where the mortar was cracked and washed away, the viaduct wall was barren of everything except the affirmation of a weary industrial city's prolonged and triumphant struggle to monumentalize its ugliness. —Philip Roth, American Pastoral, 1997
6. Every day for a week Ellsworth showed up to see Clarence and every day Miss Eunice and Mr. George Edward would exchange weary glances and shrugs … —Randall Kenan, Let the Dead Bury Their Dead, 1992

Origin of WEARY

Middle English wery, from Old English wērig; akin to Old High German wuorag intoxicated and perhaps to Greek aōros sleep

First Known Use: before 12th century

Related to WEARY

Synonyms: all in, aweary [archaic], beat, beaten, bleary, burned-out (or burnt-out), bushed, dead, done, done in, drained, exhausted, fatigued, jaded, knackered [British], limp, logy (also loggy), played out, pooped [slang], prostrate, spent, tapped out, tired, tuckered (out), washed-out, wearied, wiped out, worn, worn-out, worn to a frazzle

Antonyms: unwearied

Related Words: overfatigued, overtaxed, overworked; broken-down, run-down; debilitated, enervate, enervated, enfeebled, sapped, weakened; drowsy, heavy, sleepy; lethargic, sluggish

Near Antonyms: fresh, refreshed, rejuvenated, relaxed, rested, revitalized; active, energetic, invigorated, peppy, strengthened, strong, tireless, vitalized, weariless

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Rhymes with WEARY

beery, bleary, cheery, dreary, eerie, leery, Peary, peri, quaere, query, smeary, sphery, teary, veery