well-worn

[ wel-wawrn, -wohrn ]
See synonyms for well-worn on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. showing the effects of extensive use or wear: well-worn carpets.

  2. trite, hackneyed, or stale: a well-worn saying.

  1. fittingly or becomingly worn or borne: a well-worn reserve that never seems haughty.

Origin of well-worn

1
First recorded in 1615–25

Words Nearby well-worn

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use well-worn in a sentence

  • The well-worn aphorism of the Frenchman, “History repeats itself,” was about to assert itself.

    Checkmate | Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
  • Her "St. Agnes" is an interesting rendering of a well-worn subject.

  • A piece of well-worn matting lay upon the floor, and there were two chairs, a table, and a number of empty tea-chests in the room.

    Dope | Sax Rohmer
  • A well-worn stairway, trodden by the feet of pious generations, leads to subterranean galleries of considerable extent.

    The Catacombs of Rome | William Henry Withrow
  • Placing together a well-worn book, a lamp, and a pair of heavy bowed spectacles makes a suggestive picture.

    English: Composition and Literature | W. F. (William Franklin) Webster

British Dictionary definitions for well-worn

well-worn

adjective(well worn when postpositive)
  1. so much used as to be affected by wear: a well-worn coat

  2. used too often; hackneyed: a well-worn phrase

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012