Spelling.School · How to spell

How to spell wear

Wear is spelled W-E-A-R.

hear itwe·ar/wɜr/verbRules and real life

What it means: To have something on your body.

In a sentence: I like to wear my favorite hat.

The part people get wrong

Watch for an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear.

Not to be confused with: ware, where, a different word.

Same family: wears, wearing, wore, worn, wear out. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: In Old English, “wearian” meant simply “to wear clothing,” but another related Old English verb, “werian,” meant “to defend or guard.” Over time, the sense of something being ‘worn down’ or ‘weakened’ through use developed from this older idea of being used or exposed again and again.

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