care-worn

A form of careworn — Worn down by cares: showing the signs of long-term stress, tired and haggard due to prolonged worry.

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Meanings

adjectivecare-worn (comparative more care-worn, superlative most care-worn)

comparative more care-worn · superlative most care-worn

  1. archaicArchaic form of careworn.

    Yet Cynthia herself seemed anxious and care-worn, though she would not speak of her anxieties to Molly.

    1864 August – 1866 January, [Elizabeth] Gaskell, “The Storm Bursts”, in Wives and Daughters. An Every-day Story. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published 1866, →OCLC, page 130
    2 more examples

    The penitent shower fell, as down he knelt / Before that care-worn sage, who trembling felt / About his large dark locks, and faultering spake: […]

    1818, John Keats, “Book III”, in Endymion: A Poetic Romance, London: […] T[homas] Miller, […] for Taylor and Hessey, […], →OCLC, page 119, lines 290–292

    She hurried to the door, and met her husband; a man whose face was care-worn and depressed, though he was young.

    1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Four. The Last of the Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 139
Cite this entry
APA

care-worn. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/care-worn

MLA

“care-worn.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/care-worn. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “care-worn,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/care-worn.

Source: care-worn on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.