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PlainSpell

wear

/wɛ(ə)ɹ/verb, noun

wear is spelled W-E-A-R: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 83 times per million words in written English, the 1,272nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “ware vs wear” about 880 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, wear means “To carry or have equipped on or about one's body, as an item of clothing, equipment, decoration, perfume, etc” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in wear?

Letters4: W-E-A-R
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing83 times per million words; the 1,272nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is wear?

Wear appears 83 times per million words in written English, the 1,272nd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce wear?

  • UK /wɛə/
  • British /wɛː/
  • US /wɛ(ə)ɹ/

Wear has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-wear.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with wear

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

ware vs wear880 G
wear vs were30 G
wear vs where0 B

Sounds like: ware, where (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Also written: ware, weir.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with wear?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as wear from its last stressed vowel (/ɛɹ/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: ware.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of wear

  • wears present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • wearing participle, present
  • wore past, participle
  • worn participle, past
  • weared past, participle
  • wer
  • weir

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does wear mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To carry or have equipped on or about one's body, as an item of clothing, equipment, decoration, perfume, etc.

    He's wearing some nice pants today.

  2. 2

    To have or carry on one's person habitually, consistently; or, to maintain in a particular fashion or manner.

    He wears eyeglasses.

  3. 3

    To bear or display in one's aspect or appearance.

    She wore a smile all day.

  4. 4

    To eat away at, erode, diminish, or consume gradually; to cause a gradual deterioration in; to produce (some change) through attrition, exposure, or constant use.

    You're going to wear a hole in the bottom of those shoes.

  5. 5

    To undergo gradual deterioration; become impaired; be reduced or consumed gradually due to any continued process, activity, or use.

    The tiles were wearing thin due to years of children's feet.

  6. 6

    To exhaust, fatigue, expend, or weary.

    His neverending criticism has finally worn my patience.

  7. 7

    colloquial(in the phrase "wearing on (someone)") To cause annoyance, irritation, fatigue, or weariness near the point of an exhaustion of patience.

    Her high pitched voice is really wearing on me lately.

  8. 8

    colloquialTo overcome one's reluctance and endure a (previously specified) situation.

    I know you don't like working with him, but you'll just have to wear it.

  9. 9

    UKTo guard; watch; keep watch, especially from entry or invasion.

  10. 10

    UKTo defend; protect.

  11. 11

    UKTo ward off; prevent from approaching or entering; drive off; repel.

    to wear the wolf from the sheep

  12. 12

    UKTo conduct or guide with care or caution, as into a fold or place of safety.

noun

  1. 1

    Clothing.

    footwear; outdoor wear; maternity wear

  2. 2

    Damage to the appearance and/or strength of an item caused by use over time.

  3. 3

    Fashion.

  4. 4

    Wearing.

  5. 5

    datedDated form of weir.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Wear in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchporter (to have on (clothes or accessories)), user (to erode due to use), épuiser, fatiguer (to exhaust physically), empanner (nautical: to bring to other tack by bringing…), usure (damage)
Germantragen, anhaben (to have on (clothes or accessories)), sich abnutzen (to erode due to use), Bekleidung, Kleidung, Mode (clothing)
Portuguesevestir, trajar, usar (to have on (clothes or accessories)), gastar, desgastar (to erode due to use), vestimenta (clothing)
Spanishllevar (puesto), vestir, vestir de, vestirse de, usar, portar (to have on (clothes or accessories))

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does wear come from?

Inherited from Middle English weren, werien, from Old English werian (“to clothe, cover over; put on, wear, use; stock (land)”), from Proto-West Germanic *waʀjan, from Proto-Germanic *wazjaną (“to clothe”), from Proto-Indo-European *wes- (“to dress, put on (clothes)”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after wear