Meanings
present singular third person wears off · participle present wearing off · past wore off · participle past worn off
- intransitiveTo diminish in effect.
The effect of the injection will gradually wear off.
3 more examples
My passion for football has worn off—I'm into into women's volleyball now.
[…] the decline in passengers was attributed to the uncertainty of the weather, but one suspects it was really due to the novelty of a ride on the railway having worn off.
1953 March, C. R. Clinker, “New Light on the Leicester Swannington Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 197The giddiness of my new life, it seems, is wearing off, and frankly I (jobless, scheduleless, and incomeless though I may be—seemingly without encumbrances or restrictions) am feeling increasingly free but also completely trapped.
2011, Margaret Roach, “The Giddiness Wears Off”, in And I Shall Have Some Peace There […], New York, N.Y.: Grand Central Publishing, →ISBN, page 169 - intransitiveTo disappear because of being abraded, over-polished, or abused.
The silver plating on that cheap silverware will wear off.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
French s'atténuer, s'estomper
- s'atténuerto diminish in effect
- s'estomperto diminish in effect
- s'estomperto disappear because of being abraded, over-polished, or abused
- s'élimerto disappear because of being abraded, over-polished, or abused
Japanese 消える, 消える
- 消える (kieru)to diminish in effect
- 消える (kieru)to disappear because of being abraded, over-polished, or abused
Polish przechodzić, przejść
- przechodzićto diminish in effect
- przejśćto diminish in effect
- zanikaćto diminish in effect
- zaniknąćto diminish in effect
- ścierać sięto disappear because of being abraded, over-polished, or abused
- zetrzeć sięto disappear because of being abraded, over-polished, or abused
- schodzićto disappear because of being abraded, over-polished, or abused
- zejśćto disappear because of being abraded, over-polished, or abused
Russian смягча́ться, слабе́ть
- смягча́ться (smjaxčátʹsja)to diminish in effect
- слабе́ть (slabétʹ)to diminish in effect
- стира́ться (stirátʹsja)to disappear because of being abraded, over-polished, or abused
Cite this entry
wear off. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wear%20off
“wear off.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wear%20off. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wear off,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wear%20off.
Source: wear off on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.