What does "wear" mean?
Clothing.
Wear
/wɛə/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Clothing.
- Grammar: wear is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: clothing, abate, abide, ablate.
- Useful contrasts: buff, disrobe, doffing.
- Usage evidence: Young people wear their hair long these days.
How to use "wear"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "wear" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "wear" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "wear" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "wear" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "wear" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "clothing" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "wear", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Clothing. in-compounds, uncountable
"footwear; outdoor wear; maternity wear"
- 2 Dated form of weir. alt-of, dated
"Cool and clear, cool and clear, / By shining shingle, and foaming wear;"
- 3 the act of having on your person as a covering or adornment wordnet
- 4 Damage to the appearance and/or strength of an item caused by use over time. uncountable
"Now, I still think that for this box of matches to have escaped the wear of time for immemorial years was a most strange, as for me it was a most fortunate, thing."
- 5 a covering designed to be worn on a person's body wordnet
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 Fashion. uncountable
"Motley's the onely weare."
- 7 impairment resulting from long use wordnet
- 8 Wearing. uncountable
"It is obvious, of course, that a cylinder so applied is not for constant wear, and it is not intended in any way to correct any error of refraction, but is used merely as an exercise for a few minutes at a time at repeated intervals. In case of Oblique Astigmatism the wearing of the correction will frequently fail to give satisfaction when complicated by oblique muscular trouble, […]"
Verb
- 1 To have on:; To carry or have equipped on or about one's body, as an item of clothing, equipment, decoration, etc. transitive
"He's wearing some nice pants today."
- 2 To guard; watch; keep watch, especially from entry or invasion. UK, dialectal, transitive
- 3 have or show an appearance of wordnet
- 4 To have on:; To have or carry on one's person habitually, consistently; or, to maintain in a particular fashion or manner. transitive
"He wears eyeglasses."
- 5 To defend; protect. UK, dialectal, transitive
Show 19 more definitions
- 6 have on one's person wordnet
- 7 To have on:; To bear or display in one's aspect or appearance. transitive
"She wore a smile all day."
- 8 To ward off; prevent from approaching or entering; drive off; repel. UK, dialectal, transitive
"to wear the wolf from the sheep"
- 9 put clothing on one's body wordnet
- 10 To erode:; To eat away at, erode, diminish, or consume gradually; to cause a gradual deterioration in; to produce (some change) through attrition, exposure, or constant use.
"You're going to wear a hole in the bottom of those shoes."
- 11 To conduct or guide with care or caution, as into a fold or place of safety. UK, dialectal, transitive
- 12 be dressed in wordnet
- 13 To erode:; To undergo gradual deterioration; become impaired; be reduced or consumed gradually due to any continued process, activity, or use. copulative, intransitive
"The tiles were wearing thin due to years of children's feet."
- 14 exhaust or get tired through overuse or great strain or stress wordnet
- 15 To erode:; To exhaust, fatigue, expend, or weary.
"His neverending criticism has finally worn my patience."
- 16 deteriorate through use or stress wordnet
- 17 To erode:; (in the phrase "wearing on (someone)") To cause annoyance, irritation, fatigue, or weariness near the point of an exhaustion of patience. colloquial, intransitive
"Her high pitched voice is really wearing on me lately."
- 18 go to pieces wordnet
- 19 To endure:; To overcome one's reluctance and endure a (previously specified) situation. colloquial
"I know you don't like working with him, but you'll just have to wear it."
- 20 last and be usable wordnet
- 21 To endure:; To last or remain durable under hard use or over time; to retain usefulness, value, or desirable qualities under any continued strain or long period of time; sometimes said of a person, regarding the quality of being easy or difficult to tolerate. intransitive
"Don't worry, this fabric will wear. These pants will last you for years."
- 22 have in one's aspect; wear an expression of one's attitude or personality wordnet
- 23 To endure:; To pass slowly, gradually or tediously. intransitive
"wear on, wear away."
- 24 To bring (a sailing vessel) onto the other tack by bringing the wind around the stern (as opposed to tacking when the wind is brought around the bow); to come round on another tack by turning away from the wind.
Proper Noun
- 1 A river in the counties of County Durham and Tyne and Wear, north east England. The cities of Durham and Sunderland are situated upon its grand banks.
"The train then proceeded along the wagonway in the direction of the Wear.[…] The ladies remained at the house, while the men walked to the staith on the Wear, and were shown the process of unloading the wagons into the keels by means of the coal-drop."
Antonyms
Example
"Young people wear their hair long these days."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "wear"?
Common synonyms include: clothing, abate, abide, ablate, ablation, about ship.
How do you use "wear" in a sentence?
Young people wear their hair long these days.
How do you pronounce "wear"?
Pronounced /wɛə/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
Inherited from Middle English weren, werien, from Old English werian (“to clothe, cover over; put on, wear, use; stock (land)”), from Proto-West Germanic *waʀjan, from Proto-Germanic *wazjaną (“to clothe”), from Proto-Indo-European *wes- (“to dress, put on (clothes)”). Cognate to Sanskrit वस्ते (váste), Ancient Greek ἕννυμι (hénnumi, “put on”), Latin vestis (“garment”) (English vest), Albanian vesh (“dress up, wear”), Tocharian B wäs-, Old Armenian զգենում (zgenum), Welsh gwisgo, Hittite 𒉿𒀸- (waš-). Originally a weak verb (i.e. with a past tense in -ed), it became irregular during the Middle English period by analogy with verbs like beren (whence bear) and teren (whence tear).
Etymology 2
From Middle English weren, werien, from Old English werian (“to guard, keep, defend; ward off, hinder, prevent, forbid; restrain; occupy, inhabit; dam up; discharge obligations on (land)”), from Proto-West Germanic *warjan, from Proto-Germanic *warjaną (“to defend, protect, ward off”), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to close, cover, protect, save, defend”). Cognate with Scots wer, weir (“to defend, protect”), Dutch weren (“to aver, ward off”), German wehren (“to fight”), Swedish värja (“to defend, ward off”), Icelandic verja (“to defend”).
Etymology 3
Probably identical with British Latin Vedra, itself of Celtic origin.