Meaning & use
wear yourself out
Last updated
Meaning
phraseidiominformal
To make yourself extremely tired by working, exercising or worrying too much.
Grammar: The reflexive pronoun matches the subject: I wore myself out, he wore himself out.
Patterns
- wear yourself out doing something
- wear yourself out with something
Don't wear yourself out cleaning the whole house today.
She wore herself out training for the marathon.
The children wore themselves out playing in the yard.
Word forms
| past tense | wore yourself out |
|---|---|
| -ing form | wearing yourself out |
Common combinations
- wear yourself out doing something
- Don't wear yourself out worrying.
- wear yourself out with something
- She wore herself out with extra shifts.
- wear yourself out completely
- He wore himself out completely on the hike.
- don't wear yourself out
- Don't wear yourself out; take a break.
- wear yourself out trying
- You'll wear yourself out trying to please everyone.
Synonyms and how they differ
- exhaust yourself
- Exhaust yourself is more formal and stronger, suggesting you cannot go on.
- tire yourself out
- Tire yourself out is nearly the same and a little milder.
- burn yourself out
- Burn yourself out suggests long-term stress and loss of motivation rather than a single tiring effort.
- overdo it
- Overdo it focuses on doing too much, without saying how tired you are.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: wear yourself out or wear out?
wear yourself out vs wear out
Wear out without a reflexive pronoun can mean a thing becomes unusable, such as shoes; wear yourself out is always about your own tiredness.
Practice
Which sentence uses the reflexive phrase correctly?
Choose one answer.
The reflexive pronoun must match the subject, so 'She wore herself out' is correct. 'Wore her out' means a different person, and 'themself' is wrong with 'they'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “wear yourself out”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.