world-weary
Syllables: world-wea·ry/ˈwɜːld ˌwɪəɹi/US/ˈwɝːld ˌwɪ(ə)ɹi/
world-weary adjective: tired of the ways of the world; feeling apathetic or cynical due to one's life experiences.
Adjective
world-weary (comparative world-wearier, superlative world-weariest)
- Tired of the ways of the world; feeling apathetic or cynical due to one's life experiences.
- O here
Will I ſet vp my euerlaſting reſt:
And ſhake the yoke of inauſpicious ſtarres
From this world-wearied fleſh: […][c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and... - Till you ſhall bid this ſad, world weary ſpirit, / To peaceful regions wing her weary flight.1770, [Francis Gentleman], “Zenobia. A Tragedy. Anonymous.”, in The Dramatic Censor; or, Critical Companion, volume I, London: J[ohn] Bell, […]; York, Yorkshire: C. Etherington, […], →OCLC, page 401
- Synonyms:
- jaded, world-wearied
- O here
- Bored with life.
- In the cafés of the Boule Miche, where the decadent movements are hatched and the fledgling Verlaines come to drown their sorrows in vermouth, you may see the lacklustre visages and tumbled hair of "diabolical" poets and the world-weary figures of end-of-the-century youngsters pledging their...1894, I[srael] Zangwill, “Paris”, in Without Prejudice, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1896, →OCLC, part II (Here, There, and Somewhere Else: Philosophic Excursions), pages 309–310
- The drill sergeants are the world weariest of soldiers; and now, goddamit, they have to teach 'girls', no bigger than their kid sisters.1988, The Geographical Magazine, volume 60, London: Geographical Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 72
- Synonyms:
- apathetic, blasé, jaded, world-wearied, adiaphroistic, apathistical, blithe, deaf, cool, shiftless
world-weary meaning in Tamil
world-weary in Tamil
- உலக வாழ்விற் சலிப்புற்ற
Examples of world-weary in a sentence
- Yes! they are such spots as thousands are longing for; as the day-dreaming young, and the world-weary old, are yearning after, and painting to their mind's eye, daily in great cities; [...]1838, William Howitt, “Nooks of the World; Or, A Peep into the Back Settlements of England”, in The Rural Life of England: … In Two...
- Those who smiled upon my childhood / Oft round my chair I see, / Who, though grey-haired and world-weary, / Yet grew young again with me!1850 October, “The Aged Lady”, in Blackwood’s Lady’s Magazine and Gazette […], volume XXIX (New Series), number CLXXIII, London: A. H....
- [Holocaust memorials and museums] form a specific genre of architecture [...] indeed there may even be a certain world-weary resistance to their proliferation [...].1995, Adrian Dannatt, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: James Ingo Freed (Architecture in Detail), London: Phaidon Press, →ISBN...
Synonyms of world-weary
- jaded
- world-wearied
- apathetic
- blasé
- adiaphroistic
- apathistical
- blithe
- deaf
- cool
- shiftless
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of world-weary
| comparative | world-wearier |
|---|---|
| superlative | world-weariest |
| alternative form | world weary |
| alternative form | worldweary |
Origin of world-weary
From world + weary.
Words formed from world-weary
Questions about world-weary
- What does world-weary mean?
- World-weary means tired of the ways of the world; feeling apathetic or cynical due to one's life experiences.
- What is world-weary in Tamil?
- World-weary in Tamil is உலக வாழ்விற் சலிப்புற்ற. See World-weary meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use world-weary in a sentence?
- Yes! they are such spots as thousands are longing for; as the day-dreaming young, and the world-weary old, are yearning after, and painting to their mind's eye, daily in great cities; [...]
- What part of speech is world-weary?
- World-weary is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce world-weary?
- World-weary is pronounced /ˈwɜːld ˌwɪəɹi/ (UK).
Words near world-weary in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: world-weary (page history and authors); world-weary (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-world-weary.wav.
Cite this entry: “world-weary.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/world-weary. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.