I. ˈwirē, ˈwēr-, -ri adjective
( -er/-est )
Etymology: Middle English wery, from Old English wērig; akin to Old Saxon wōrig weary, Old High German wuorag intoxicated, Old English wōrian to wander, totter, Old Norse ōrar (plural) fits of madness, Greek hōrakian to faint
1.
a. : having the strength much impaired by toil or exertion : worn out in respect to strength, endurance, vigor
followed by troops of weary , dirty children — Irving Bacheller
weary wings that rise and fall all day long — Edna S. V. Millay
b. : having lost freshness or virtue or usefulness
if another leftover is some weary noodles — R.P.Smith
programs on television have degenerated into weary , predictable repetitions of each other — Edwin O'Connor
2. : expressing or characteristic of weariness
weary , disillusioned note of futility in our life — J.C.Powys
a weary sound that was not a sigh nor a groan — Charles Dickens
3. : having one's patience, tolerance, or pleasure exhausted : impatient of the continuance or recurrence of something — used with of
councils grew weary of reiterating a demand which could not be enforced — R.W.Southern
weary to death of this eight years profitless war — Harold Nicolson
4. : exhausted by suffering or sorrow : mentally or spiritually fatigued : sad
effete, weary , burnt-out revolutionists — H.F.Mooney
a world grown weary with fear — Robert Payne
5. : causing weariness of body or spirit
ahead of them lay many weary miles of desert sand — G.F.Hudson
: tiresome , tedious
bacon, beans, and bread make a weary meal three times a day — Allan Seager
6. Scot & dialect England
a. : sickly , puny , weak
b. : wretched , grievous , unfortunate , disastrous
II. adverb
( -er/-est )
: wearily , wearyingly
III. verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
Etymology: Middle English werien, from Old English wērigian, wērgian, from wērig weary
intransitive verb
1. : to become weary : tire
tendency to weary of burdens — Dean Acheson
2. : to become exhausted in patience, tolerance, or liking
telling stories when they wearied of cards and games — A.B.Paterson
people weary of old lies — Stuart Chase
3. : to wait wearily : long or pine in expectation
paced up and down … wearying for the boat to get around — William Black
wearying in spiritual wastes of sand and thorns — C.E.Montague
4. : to bring on weariness : become monotonous or boring : pall
transitive verb
1. : to reduce or exhaust the physical strength or endurance of : fatigue
think out a solution without wearying the body by needless movement — James Hewitt
2. : to make mentally or spiritually weary : exhaust the patience or tolerance of
exceeds and wearies credibility — John Mason Brown
anxieties that lined his forehead and wearied his mind — Lennox Robinson
— often used with out
paternal affection was not yet wearied out — T.B.Macaulay
Synonyms: see tire
IV. ˈwiri noun
( -es )
Etymology: probably from wary (I)
Scotland : curse , plague — used in mild imprecation
oh, weary on the wars — Sir Walter Scott