ENGLISH
REFERENCE

wear thin

idiom
Meaning

To lessen or weaken over time, as from overuse.


Examples
SIMPLE

Your excuses are starting to wear thin.

CONTEXTUAL

The manager's patience began to wear thin after the team missed their third deadline in a row.

COMPLEX

As the long winter dragged on, the villagers' supplies began to wear thin, forcing them to ration their remaining grain until the spring harvest.

Anchors to
Related idioms8entries
  1. 01

    does the Pope wear a funny hat

    Obviously! Rhetorical question in response to a question where the answer is an emphatic yes.

  2. 02

    have a thin time of it

    To be in a difficult or precarious situation due to one not having enough money.

  3. 03

    if the shoe fits, wear it

    If a description fits, it is probably the case; if an insult accurately describes you, you must bear it; if you take offence at an insult that was only implicitly directed at you, you admit the insult is true enough to be recognizable.

  4. 04

    on thin ice

    Dangerously, hazardously, delicately.

  5. 05

    out of thin air

    From nowhere or nothing; from a non-existent or unknown source.

  6. 06

    skate on thin ice

    To be (or to place oneself) in a risky, potentially dangerous or delicate situation.

  7. 07

    spread oneself thin

    To commit oneself to too many projects, so that there is little chance of completing them all satisfactorily.

  8. 08

    thick and thin

    Both good and bad times.

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