wear long

Meanings

1. 1phraseintransitive

   to wear clothes that reach down to your knees or lower, such as long skirts or trousers.

   Grammar: No object: you wear long, or you wear long skirts. You cannot say 'wear long a skirt'.

   Patterns

   • wear long
   • wear long skirts
   • wear long sleeves
   • wear something long

   In this culture, women often wear long to show respect.

   She likes to wear long in winter to stay warm.

   He decided to wear long trousers to the interview.

2. 2phraseintransitiveinformal

   to keep something on your body for a long time without taking it off.

   Grammar: Usually used with a negative or a question: 'I can't wear long.' It means you cannot wear something for a long period.

   Patterns

   • can't wear long
   • don't wear long
   • wear something long

   These shoes are so tight that I can't wear long.

   I don't wear long because it makes my skin itchy.

   Can you wear long without taking a break?

Common combinations

wear long sleeves

You should wear long sleeves to protect your arms from the sun.

wear long pants

The school requires students to wear long pants.

wear long hair

She used to wear long hair, but now it's short.

wear long dresses

For the wedding, the guests were asked to wear long dresses.

Synonyms and how they differ

dress long

Dress long is less common and sounds a bit old-fashioned; wear long is the usual phrase.

be dressed long

This describes the state of being in long clothes, while wear long focuses on the action or habit.

Opposites

Commonly confused: wear long or wear for long?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “wear long”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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