Weary a.

Forms: 1 wœriʓ, (uoeriʓ), wériʓ, 2–4 weri, (3 wæri), 3–6 werie, -y, (4 wiry, 5 wyry), 4, 6 Sc. very, (5 were, werre), 5–6 werye, 6 weery, wiery, 6–9 Sc. wearie, 6– weary. [OE. wériʓ, corresponding to OS. (sîð-) wôrig weary (with a journey), OHG. wuarag drunk:—W.Ger. *wōriʓo-, -aʓo-. The root *wōr- seems to be identical with that in OE. wórian to wander, go astray, and in ON. órar fits of madness, ǽr-r mad, insane; the primary sense was perhaps ‘bewildered,’ ‘stupefied.’]

  I.  1. Having the feeling of loss of strength, langor, and need for rest, produced by continued exertion (physical or mental), endurance of severe pain, or wakefulness; tired, fatigued. Now with stronger sense: Intensely tired, worn out with fatigue.

  The strong emotional emphasis that the word has acquired in modern times tends to exclude it from colloquial use and from unimpassioned prose.

c. 825.  Vesp. Psalter, Hymn xii. Mentes fessas, mod woeriʓu.

a. 900.  Elene 357 (Gr.). Þa wereʓan neat, þe man … drifeð & þirsceð.

c. 900.  Bæda’s Hist., III. ix. (1890), 180. Þa heo þa on þære stowe ʓeseted wæs, ða was heo weriʓ.

c. 940.  Brunanburh, in O. E. Chron., an. 937. Þar læʓ secg mæniʓ, garum aʓeted,… ofer scild scoten,… weriʓ, wiʓes sæd.

a. 1200.  Moral Ode, 240 (Lamb. MS.). Ho [sc. souls in hell] walkeð weri up and dun, se water deð mid winde.

c. 1290.  Katerine, 24, in S. E. Leg., 92. Of sonne and Mone and steorrene also, fram þe este to þe weste Þat trauaillieth and neuere werie ne beoth.

c. 1290.  Beket, 1158, ibid., 139. Swiþe weri was þe holi man, onneþe he bar up is fet.

c. 1350.  Will. Palerne, 2518. Meliors was so wery þat sche ne walk miȝt.

1375.  Barbour, Bruce, XII. 143. His men als that wer very Hynt of thair basnetis.

c. 1400.  Maundev. (Roxb.), xvi. 75. He was so wery þat he myȝt na ferther.

1557.  N. T. (Genev.), Matt. xi. 28. Come vnto me all ye that are wearie and laden.

1567.  Maplet, Gr. Forest, 68 b. The fift or odde Crane … flieth all alone before, till he be wearie so doing.

1684.  J. S., Profit & Pleas. United, 159. To know when the Stag is weary, is easily done by his Slavering, froathing at the Mouth, [etc.].

1837.  W. Irving, Capt. Bonneville, xliv. III. 188. After an absence of twenty days, they returned weary and discouraged.

1856.  Mrs. Browning, Aur. Leigh, I. 465. Producing what? A pair of slippers, sir, To put on when you’re weary.

1865.  Swinburne, Chastelard, I. ii. 30. I am tired too soon; I could have danced down hours Two years gone hence and felt no wearier.

  absol.  1382.  Wyclif, Job iii. 17. There resteden the wery in strengthe [1611 There the wearie be at rest]. Ibid. (1382), Isa. xl. 29. The Lord … ȝyueth to the weri vertue.

1568.  Grafton, Chron., II. 627. The Duke of Yorke sent euer fresh men, to succor the werie, and put new men in places of the hurt persons.

1760–72.  H. Brooke, Fool of Qual. (1809), II. 160. Death may bring rest to the weary and overladen.

1804.  Campbell, Soldier’s Dream, 4. Thousands had sunk on the ground overpowered, The weary to sleep, and the wounded to die.

1848.  Dickens, Dombey, lviii. The eternal book for all the weary and the heavy-laden.

1887.  I. R., Lady’s Ranche Life Montana, 105. In a few minutes we were sleeping the sleep of the weary.

  b.  said of the body, its limbs or organs.

c. 1205.  Lay., 16592. To lechinien þa wunden of leofenen his cnihten & baðien on burȝe heore wærie ban.

1573.  Gascoigne, Posies, Hearbes, Wks. 1907, I. 354. If thou sitte at ease to rest thy wearie bones.

1590.  Spenser, F. Q., I. ii. 29. There they alight, in hope … to … rest their weary limbs a tide.

1697.  Dryden, Virg. Georg., IV. 264. Late at Night, with weary Pinions come The lab’ring Youth, and heavy laden home.

1792.  Rogers, Pleas. Mem., I. 73 (1810), 12. How oft … We … Welcom’d the wild-bee home on weary wing.

1841.  Longf., Excelsior, v. ‘O stay,’ the maiden said, ‘and rest Thy weary head upon this breast!’

  c.  with the source of weariness indicated. Const. with, formerly also † of (now only in sense 2), † for, or † genitive.

Beowulf, 579. Siþes weriʓ.

a. 1000.  Riddles, liv. [lv.] 10. Weriʓ þæs weorces.

c. 1205.  Lay., 18406. Heo beoð swiðe werie iboren heore wepnen.

c. 1220.  Bestiary, 635. Ðanne he is of walke weri.

1362.  Langl., P. Pl., A. Prol. 7. I was weori of wandringe [B. wery forwandred].

a. 1366[?].  Chaucer, Rom. Rose, 440. Ne certis she was fatt no thing But semed wery for fasting.

1382.  Wyclif, John iv. 6. Jhesu maad wery, or feynt, of the iurney, sat thus on the welle.

c. 1400.  Maundev. (Roxb.), x. 40. When he was wery of bering of þe crosse.

1489.  Caxton, Faytes of A., II. xxxvii. 157. They fonde the watchemen sore wery of longe watche.

1584.  Powel, Lloyd’s Cambria, 93. Both armies being werie with fighting.

1596.  Spenser, F. Q., VI. vii. 19. Weary of trauell in his former fight, He there in shade himselfe had laid to rest.

1610.  Shaks., Temp., IV. 134. You Sun-burn’d Sicklemen of August weary.

1617.  Moryson, Itin., I. 179. My horse weary of this long journey without so much as a daies rest, beganne to faint.

1697.  Dryden, Virg. Georg., IV. 581. Weary with his Toyl, and scorch’d with Heat.

1805.  Scott, Last Minstrel, I. ii. The stag-hounds, weary with the chase, Lay stretch’d upon the rushy floor.

  d.  Of pace, tread, voice, etc.: Showing signs of fatigue.

a. 1000.  Cynewulf’s Christ, 993. Beornas gretað … werʓum stefnum.

1638.  Quarles, Hieroglyphikes, i. 8. When at length His weary steps have reach’d the top.

1697.  Dryden, Æneis, XI. 803. His Foes in sight, he mends his weary pace.

1784.  Burns, Man was made, 6. I spy’d a man, whose aged step Seem’d weary, worn with care.

1820.  Shelley, Sensit. Pl., III. 9. The weary sound and the heavy breath, And the silent motions of passing death. Ibid. (1821), Epipsych., 155. The beaten road Which those poor slaves with weary footsteps tread.

1840.  Dickens, Old C. Shop, xv. Accordingly, towards this spot, they directed their weary steps.

  † e.  quasi-sb. in for weary: see FOR- prefix 10.

c. 1350, c. 1400.  [see FOR- prefix 10].

c. 1400.  Laud Troy Bk., 5574. Then were the Troyens wel weri, Thei myght not for weri hem steri.

c. 1420.  Avow. Arth., xvii. For werre slidus he on slepe, No lengur myȝte he wake.

14[?].  Sir Beues (O.), 2449. What for wery and what for faynt, Syr Beuys was nerehande attaynt.

a. 1450.  Mirk’s Festial, 180. But on þe morow, what for wach, what for wery, he fylle on slepe.

c. 1460.  Towneley Myst., xxx. 226. Vnethes may I wag, man, for wery in youre stabill Whils I set my stag, man.

  2.  Discontented at the continuance or continued recurrence of something, and desiring its cessation; having one’s patience, tolerance, zeal or energy exhausted; ‘sick and tired’ of something. Also with in, and to with inf.

c. 1205.  Lay., 1328. Ne bið na man weri heora songes to heræn.

1377.  Langl., P. Pl., B. XV. 181. Whan he is wery of þat werke þanne wil he some tyme Labory in a lauendrye.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Parson’s T., 1012. It [sc. the Paternoster] is schort … for a man schulde be þe lasse wery to say it.

c. 1400.  Rom. Rose, 6298. I wol no more of this thing seyn, If I may passen me herby; I mighte maken you wery.

1470–85.  Malory, Arthur, XVI. i. 664. I am nyghe wery of this quest.

1526.  Tindale, 2 Thess. iii. 13. Brethren be not weary in well doynge. [So all later versions exc. Rheims.] Ibid. (1534), Gal. vi. 9. Let vs not be wery of well doynge [1611 in well doing].

1535.  Coverdale, Ps. vi. 6. I am weery of gronynge.

1551.  Robinson, trans. More’s Utopia, II. vi. (1895), 212. In the exercyse and studdye of the mynde they be neuer werye.

c. 1590.  Fair Em, IV. i. 28. I am growen werie of his companie.

1605.  Shaks., Lear, I. iv. 218. He that keepes not crust, nor crum, Weary of all, shall want some.

1647.  Clarendon, Hist. Reb., IV. § 42. By this time the King was as weary of Scotland as he had been impatient to go thither.

1670.  Dryden, 1st. Pt. Conq. Granada, I. i. ’Tis just some joyes on weary Kings should waite.

1711.  in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. I. 143. He cannot be ignorant how weary we are of the war.

1726.  Swift, Gulliver, I. i. The last of these voyages not proving very fortunate, I grew weary of the sea.

1790.  Burns, The Taylor fell, 13. There’s somebody weary wi’ lying her lane.

1817.  Shelley, Rev. Islam, Ded. 33. For I grow weary to behold The selfish and the strong still tyrannize Without reproach or check.

1855.  Tennyson, Maud, I. xxii. 4. She is weary of dance and play. Ibid. (1864), Islet, 29. His compass is but of a single note, That it makes one weary to hear.

1875.  Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), V. 122. Plato is never weary or speaking of the honour of the soul.

  b.  Tired of, anxious to be rid of (a person). rare.

c. 1472[?].  Stonor Papers (Camden), I. 123. Me thynk þay sshuld nat be so wery of yow, þat dyd so gret labour & diligence to have yow.

1602.  W. S., Thomas Ld. Cromwell, IV. ii. 6. All parts abroade where euer I haue beene Growes wearie of me, and denies me succour.

a. 1653.  Brome, City Wit, IV. i. I will suddenly take occasion to break with the Foole Wolsie; of whom I am heartily weary.

1859.  Tennyson, Vivien, 687. I am weary of her.

  3.  Depressed and dispirited through trouble, anxiety, disappointment, etc.; sick at heart.

c. 888.  Ælfred, Boeth., xxii. § 1. Eala Wisdom, þu ðe eart sio hehste frofer ealra weriʓra moda.

c. 1000.  Wanderer, 15. Ne mæʓ weriʓ mod wyrde wiðstondan.

c. 1205.  Lay., 28081. Þa wes ich al wet & weri of sorȝen and seoc.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 15875. Mate and weri war þai þan.

1535.  Coverdale, 2 Esdr. xii. 5. Yet am I weery in my minde.

1538.  Starkey, England, II. i. 150. Many febul and wery soulys, wych haue byn oppressyd wyth wordly vanyte.

1605.  Shaks., Macb., III. i. 112. 1 Murth. So wearie with Disasters, tugg’d with Fortune.

17[?].  Slighted Nansy, in Ramsay, Tea-t. Misc. (1733), I. 23. Far ben the house I rin; And a weary wight am I.

1792.  Burns, Banks of Doon (later version), 4. How can ye chant, ye little birds, And I sae weary fu’ o’ care!

1892.  L. Johnson, in 1st Bk. Rhymers’ Club, 6.

  4.  Of persons: Having little strength, feeble, sickly. Sc. and dial.

c. 1375.  Sc. Leg. Saints, xviii. (Egipciane), 240. Þocht he auld & very vas.

1533.  Bellenden, Livy, III. iii. (S.T.S.), I. 250. Than was Ebucius, ane of þe consullis, dede in þe ciete, and his colleig seruilius sa wery þat he mycht skarsly draw his aynd.

1808.  Jamieson, s.v., A weary bairn, a child that is declining, S.

a. 1825.  Forby, Voc. E. Anglia, s.v., It is a poor weary child.

1879.  Good Words, 405/1. The minister had christened Nicky Macdonald’s bairn in the house, since it was far too weary a thing to be brought to the kirk.

  fig.  1533.  Bellenden, Livy, III. vii. (S.T.S.), I. 273. Þe ciete was nocht sa wery [L. aegram] þat It mycht be dantit with sic remedis as It was wont to be.

  II.  Causing weariness.

  5.  Fatiguing, toilsome, exhausting. (Sometimes blending indistinguishably with sense 6.)

c. 1315.  Shoreham, II. 84. To bere hyt [sc. the cross] to caluary, I-wys, hyt was wel wery.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Miller’s T., 457. The dede slepe for wery bisynesse ffil on this Carpenter.

1560.  Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 219 b. They wente a werye and a paynefull Jorney [L. difficili et molesto itinere].

1560.  Bible (Geneva), Isa. xxxii. 2. As the shadowe of a great rocke in a wearieland. [Literal from the Heb.]

1575.  Fleming, Virg. Bucol., ix. 29. Let’s synging passe our weary waye, lesse trouble wyll be oures.

1719.  De Foe, Crusoe, I. (Globe), 129. Many a weary Stroke it [sc. the boat] had cost, you may be sure; and there remained nothing but to get it into the Water.

1764.  Goldsm., Trav., 423. Vain, very vain, my weary search to find That bliss which only centres in the mind.

1783.  Burns, Despondency, 5. O Life! Thou art a galling load, Along a rough, a weary road, To wretches such as I.

1832.  Ht. Martineau, Life in Wilds, vi. 76. It was weary work with any tool but the hatchet.

1833.  Tennyson, Lotos-Eaters, 41. Evermore Most weary seem’d the sea, weary the oar.

1849.  Aytoun, Lays Scott. Cavaliers (ed. 2), 72. And aye we sail’d, and aye we sail’d Across the weary sea.

1894.  J. A. Steuart, In Day of Battle, iv. India … is far away. Many a weary mile lies between us and it.

  6.  Irksome, wearisome, tedious; in graver sense, burdensome to the spirit.

1465.  Paston Lett., II. 188. Thys ys to wyry a lyffe to a byde for you and all youre.

1603.  Shaks., Meas. for M., III. i. 129. The weariest, and most loathed worldly life That Age, Ache, periury, and imprisonment Can lay on nature.

1798.  Wordsw., Lines Tintern Abbey, 39. In which the heavy and the weary weight Of all this unintelligible world, Is lightened.

1813.  Scott, Rokeby, V. iii. In the rude guard-room, where of yore Their weary hours the warders wore.

1850.  Kingsley, Alton Locke, xli. Like the clear sunshine after weary rain.

1884.  Tennyson, Cup, I. ii. 26. I have had a weary day in watching you. Yours must have been a wearier.

  † b.  Of discourse, a speaker or writer: Tedious, wearisome. Obs.

1549.  Coverdale, etc., Erasm. Par. 1 Tim. i. 1–7. Wherto should a man labour for saluacion by meanes of so many wiery obseruacions [per tot molestas obseruatiunculas ad salutem contendere].

1571.  T. Fortescue, Mexia’s Foreste, vii. 15 b. Sundry are the considerations, of whiche Lactantius Firmianus … as also somme others, haue written, large, & wery volumes.

1603.  Shaks., Meas. for M., I. iv. 25. Your Brother kindly greets you: Not to be weary with you; he’s in prison.

  7.  Sc. and north. dial. a. Sad, sorrowful, hard to endure.

a. 1785.  W. Forbes, Dominie, in R. Forbes, Poems Buchan Dial., II. 35. With blubber’d cheeks and watry nose, Her weary story she did close.

1813.  Scott, Rokeby, III. xxviii. Song, A weary lot is thine, fair maid.

a. 1893.  in R. Ford, Harp Perths., 24. This weary, waefu’ tale o’ mine.

  b.  As an expression of irritation: Tiresome, vexatious, ‘wretched,’ ‘confounded.’

a. 1785.  W. Forbes, Dominie, in R. Forbes, Poems Buchan Dial., II. 27. Wae worth that weary sup of drink He lik’d so well!

1802.  Sibbald, Chron. Sc. Poetry, IV. Gloss., Weary, wretched, cursed; as the weary or weariful fox.

1845.  Mrs. S. C. Hall, Whiteboy, x. 85. I went hunting everywhere for the weary cat and her kittens.

1864.  Latto, Tam. Bodkin, xiv. 131. Ye weary, weirdless, ne’er-do-weel vagabond.

1893.  ‘L. Keith,’ ’Lisbeth, ii. ’Lisbeth, mind these weary steps. Your aunt’s very infirm in the feet.

  c.  quasi-adv. as an intensive: Grievously, ‘sadly.’

1790.  Shirrefs, Poems Sc. Dial., 262. Poor Scota now is daz’d and auld, Her childrens blood rins weary cauld, To see her Palace like a fauld For haddin’ sheep!

1860.  J. P. Kay-Shuttleworth, Scarsdale, II. 155. Hoo’ll be weary pottert (disturbed) wi’ a letter fro’ onybody bur mysel’.

  8.  Sc. in certain phrases, perh. influenced by WARY v., to curse: Weary fa’ (fall), weary on, weary set (a person or thing), a curse on (him, etc.).

1788.  Burns, Duncan Gray, i. Weary fa’ you, Duncan Gray.

1816.  Scott, Old Mort., xxxix. O, weary on the wars! mony’s the comely face they destroy. Ibid. (1816), Bl. Dwarf, iii. O weary fa’ thae evil days!

1828.  W. M‘Dowall, Poems Galloway Dial., 21.

1875.  W. Alexander, Sk. Life among Ain Folk, 149. Weary set that chiel’,… he has seerly nae taste ava.

1893.  Stevenson, Catriona, ii. The French recruiting, weary fall it!

1896.  A. Lilburn, Borderer, xxix. 221. Eh, weary on us! There seems no end to our misfortunes.

  III.  9. Comb., as weary-laden, -looking, -winged, -worn adjs.; † weary-foot a., having weary feet, tired with walking.

1798.  O’Keeffe, Wild Oats, II. i. The hungry and *weary-foot traveller.

1784.  Burns, Man was made to mourn, end. A blest relief to those That *weary-laden mourn!

1885.  Ld. R. Gower, Old Diaries (1902), 21. A worn *weary-looking man of middle age.

1833.  Scargill, Puritan’s Grave (1846), 63. The occasional cawing of the *weary-winged rooks.

1795–6.  Wordsw., Borderers, I. 420. If you knew … how sleep will master The *weary-worn.

1819.  Keats, Otho, II. ii. 117. For I am sick and faint with many wrongs, Tir’d out and weary-worn with contumelies.

  Hence † Werihede [-HEAD], weariness.

1340.  Ayenb., 33. Efterward comþ werihede þet makeþ þane man weri and worsi uram daye to daye.