well-worn
"well-worn" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“well-worn” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Showing signs of wear because of extensive use.
Corpus desk
Index EN-well-worn · well-worn · English
well-worn · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "W" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | well-worn |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “well-worn” in English
Rare enough to double-check
well-worn is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for well-worn in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is well-worn, spelled W-E-L-L---W-O-R-N.
Definition
- 1Showing signs of wear because of extensive use.
- 2Trite or hackneyed; repeated too often.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how well-worn appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Well she's black as coal, but she burn like a fire, And she wrap herself around you like a well-worn tire.
The decay of social norms and status quo systems triggering an authoritarian tightening of the screws is a well-worn pattern throughout human history.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.