Meaning & use
tired
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Needing sleep or rest because you have little energy.
Grammar: Used after be or before a noun: I am tired; a tired child.
I was too tired to cook dinner.
The tired runners dropped onto the grass.
She looked tired after the long flight.
adjectiveafter a verb
Bored with or annoyed by something that has gone on too long.
Grammar: Takes of: tired of waiting.
Patterns
- tired of something
- tired of doing something
I am tired of the same excuses.
He grew tired of waiting for a reply.
Aren't you tired of this weather?
adjectivebefore a noundisapproving
Overused and no longer fresh or interesting.
Grammar: Goes before a noun: a tired joke.
The show relied on tired jokes.
That is a tired excuse.
Word forms
| comparative | more tired |
|---|---|
| superlative | most tired |
Common combinations
- dead tired
- We were dead tired after the hike.
- tired of
- She is tired of the noise.
- tired eyes
- He rubbed his tired eyes.
- tired out
- The game tired the kids out.
- look tired
- You look tired today.
Synonyms and how they differ
- exhausted
- Much stronger than tired; completely drained of energy.
- weary
- Slightly literary; suggests being worn down over time.
- sleepy
- Specifically wanting to sleep, not necessarily from effort.
- fed up
- Informal; matches the 'tired of' sense of annoyance.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: tired or tiring?
tired vs tiring
Tired describes how you feel; tiring describes what makes you tired: I'm tired after a tiring day.
Practice
I'm tired ___ hearing the same song every morning.
Choose one answer.
In the sense of being bored or annoyed, tired is followed by of. The other options do not fit the pattern.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “tired”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.