weary
1wea·ry
adjective \ˈwir-ē\wea·ri·erwea·ri·est
Definition of WEARY
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>
Examples of WEARY
- I need to rest my weary eyes.
- The miners were weary after a long shift.
- She was weary from years of housework.
- 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
- 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
- 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
- [+]more
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
2wea·ry
verb \ˈwir-ē\wea·riedwea·ry·ing
Definition of WEARY
intransitive verb
: to become weary (see 1weary)
transitive verb
: to make weary
Examples of WEARY
- The work wearies me sometimes.
- <these constant complaints are really wearying me>
- What wearies me about Dickens, however, is his excessive use of words. —Will Manley, Booklist, 1 Nov. 2006
- Does it weary me to find some women of the next generation reinventing the wheel when it comes to planning their lives and dreaming of their romantic futures? —Margo Jefferson, New York Times Book Review, 15 Apr. 2001
- I doubted what Indonesia now had to offer and wearied of being new all over again. —Barack Obama, Dreams from My Father, (1995) 2004
- [+]more
Origin of WEARY
(see 1weary)
First Known Use: before 12th century
Learn More About WEARY
Browse
Seen & Heard 
What made you want to look up weary? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).


See 








