wear two hats

verb

To have two different roles.

“The policeman wore two hats, having an administrative role as well as patrolling the beat.”

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Meanings

verbwear two hats (third-person singular simple present wears two hats, present participle wearing two hats, simple past wore two hats, past participle worn two hats)

present singular third person wears two hats · participle present wearing two hats · past wore two hats · participle past worn two hats

  1. idiomaticTo have two different roles.

    The policeman wore two hats, having an administrative role as well as patrolling the beat.

    2 more examples

    Many a person wears two hats in daily life: friend and coworker, student and teacher, wife and mother, husband and father.

    Shepard: I wear a lot of hats, Mr. Vargas. Some days I shut down criminals. Some days I defuse nukes. Some days I like to enjoy private vices. You understand me?

    2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Noveria
Cite this entry
APA

wear two hats. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wear%20two%20hats

MLA

“wear two hats.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wear%20two%20hats. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wear two hats,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wear%20two%20hats.

Source: wear two hats on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.