Wear is a verb meaning to have on one's body or to use a garment, accessory, or item until it becomes worn or damaged. It also extends to the act of eroding or diminishing something through use, or to carry or bear (a feeling or expression) with a certain appearance. Common collocations include wear clothes, wear a hat, wear out, and wear away.
"She will wear a tailored suit to the interview."
"The carpet has started to wear after years of foot traffic."
"He wore a concerned expression during the meeting."
"Time will wear away even the strongest materials."
Wear comes from Old English wærian or werian, related to garments and clothing. The term is rooted in Proto-Germanic *warjaną, with cognates in Old High German weran and Old Norse verr. In Middle English, wear began to encompass the broader sense of using something until it deteriorates, or the condition of being worn. The clothing sense (to have something on) is semantically tied to the physical act of donning and donning’s aftermath—wear and tear. Over centuries, wear expanded to intangible meanings: to bear or endure (weariness), to erode (wear away), and to exhibit a state or expression, such as “wear a smile.” The verb’s core notion has consistently linked action and condition: applying or using something leads to its progressive change in form or appearance. First known uses appear in early English texts where garments and tools are described in terms of wear or weariness. Throughout the development of English, wear has remained polysemous, retaining tangible sense (clothing) and metaphorical uses (emotional wear, wear down). The word’s endurance in English illustrates how a simple action—putting something on or using it—can evolve into a broad set of related meanings connected by the theme of ongoing effect.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "Wear" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "Wear"
-are sounds
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Wear is pronounced with a single syllable: /wɛəɹ/ in broad transcription, often realized as /wɛɹ/ in many accents. Start with a bilabial /w/ as in “wet,” then move to a mid-front vowel that slides toward a schwa-like quality before the /ɹ/ or its rhotic offglide. In US practice, you’ll hear /wɛɹ/ with a light rhotic ending; in UK/AU, it’s closer to /weə/. Focus on a smooth transition from the /ɛ/ to the /ə/ (or /ɹ/) without a hard break. Mouth position: lips rounded slightly for /w/, jaw relaxes, tongue mid-high toward the front for /ɛ/, then sides of the tongue raise toward a relaxed /ɹ/ or vowel without an overt trill. Audio reference: [audible approximate guidance you can compare with a native pronunciation in a dictionary or video tutorial].
Two common errors: (1) inserting an extra vowel between /w/ and /ɹ/, saying something like /weɪɹ/ or /wear/ as two syllables; (2) pronouncing a full /ɹ/ vowel instead of a quick schwa-like offglide. Correction: keep it as a single syllable with a short vowel that glides toward a postvocalic /ɹ/ or its offglide: aim for /wɛɹ/ or /wɛə/ depending on your accent. Practice by saying ‘wet’ then relax the second vowel, letting the /ɹ/ flow from the tongue’s tip toward the palate. Imagine saying ‘were’ quickly, not ‘wearing’ the vowel. For non-rhotic speakers, ensure you still produce a subtle rhotic ending or a central vowel that approximates /ə/ before the consonant.
In US English, wear commonly surfaces as /wɛɹ/ with rhotic ending; some speakers may reduce to /wɛr/ or /wær/ in rapid speech. UK English often yields /weə/ or /wɛə/, with a lengthened mid vowel and less pronounced rhoticity in some dialects. Australian English tends toward /weə/ with a longer glide and less clear rhotic r, especially in non-rhotic variants. Across accents, the main diff is how the second element is vocalized: a clearer /ɹ/ in rhotic varieties vs a reduced or vowel-like glide in non-rhotic varieties. Listening for the transition from the initial /w/ through a mid vowel to a subtle or absent r will help you identify the accent…
Wear sits at a phonetic crossroads: it starts with /w/ and a short, mid vowel that tends to linger into a trailing vowel or glide. The challenge is avoiding over-articulating a vowel before the /ɹ/ and preventing a two-syllable split in rapid speech. Also, many learners struggle with the r-colored or non-r-colored endings depending on their dialect; ensuring a natural, quick transition from the vowel to the rhotic or its absence is essential. To master it, practice smooth lip rounding on /w/, then a quick, controlled glide into /ɹ/ or your local equivalent, keeping the syllable compact.
A common nuance query is whether you should pronounce wear with a separate vowel as in “we-er” or as a single vowel cluster. The correct Wear is a single syllable with an offglide: /wɛɹ/ in rhotic accents or /weə/ in some non-rhotic varieties. The key is a quick, continuous movement: start with /w/, place the tongue for /ɛ/ just behind the upper teeth, then relax into the rhotic or its non-rhotic equivalent without a hard stop. This keeps the word tight in casual speech while preserving intelligibility in connected speech.
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