tired

TY-erd/ˈtaɪ̯ɚd/TY-uhd/ˈtaɪ̯əd/

UK spellingtyred

7 meanings of tired

Practice

1
needing restadjective
Feeling in need of rest or sleep.
By the third night shift that week, she was too tired to cook dinner.
Tired travelers dozed in the lounge while waiting for the delayed flight.
UsageYou feel tired; the thing that causes it is tiring (a tiring day). More tired is usual, though tireder exists.
Similarexhausted, weary, sleepy, fatigued, drowsy
Oppositerested, energetic, alert
Note
Like other adjectives for a human condition, it can stand alone as a noun for the people who share it, as in Emma Lazarus's lines on a plaque inside the Statue of Liberty's pedestal, "Give me your tired, your poor," which John F. Kennedy quoted in A Nation of Immigrants.
2
fed upadjective
Fed up, annoyed, or irritated; sick of something.
Voters are tired of campaign promises that never materialize.
He grew tired of his roommate's loud music at midnight.
UsageUsually tired of something or tired of + -ing (tired of waiting); also sick and tired of.
Similarsick, weary, bored
3
worn from useadjective
Old and worn from long use.
The diner's tired booths still wore their original 1970s vinyl.
He drove a tired pickup that rattled at every stoplight.
Similarworn, shabby, battered, tatty
Oppositenew, pristine
4
overusedadjective
Overused to the point of being stale or clichéd.
The article relied on tired metaphors about journeys and crossroads.
Critics dismissed the sitcom's premise as tired and predictable.
Similarstale, hackneyed, trite, overused
Oppositefresh, original, novel
5
verb
Past tense and past participle of tire.
The steep climb tired even the experienced hikers.
Months of campaigning had visibly tired the senator.
UsageWith of it means grew bored: she soon tired of the job.
Note
One spelling does double duty: simple past (the climb tired them) and participle (had tired, was tired by the climb). Tire runs both ways, so the past can also be intransitive: the hikers tired by noon. Older texts may use it for an obsolete tire meaning "to dress or adorn."

Less common meanings

6
adjectiveslangderogatory
Played out or ineffectual; incompetent.
Honestly, the new manager is tired: he can't run a meeting or make a single decision.
Nobody books that tired promoter anymore; his shows always flop.
Similarfinished, lame, useless
Note
A put-down from African-American Vernacular English slang: call someone tired and you are saying they are played out or just no good at what they do. Because it is derogatory, it lands as an insult, never as sympathy. Applied to an effort, as in a tired attempt, it sits close to the "overused" meaning. Aimed at a person, it judges competence rather than freshness.
7
wheelsadjectivein compounds
Equipped with tires of a particular type or number, named by the word it combines with.
The city's metro runs rubber-tired trains on several of its lines.
The museum displays a solid-tired delivery truck from the early days of motoring.
UsageJoined with a hyphen to the kind of tire: rubber-tired, steel-tired.
Note
The wheel noun plus -ed gives this adjective, which has no link to the needing-rest meaning and is also spelled tyred.

tired is a form of tire

tire, verb: To become sleepy or in need of rest. Full entry

Forms: tiretires he/she/ittiring -ing formtired past tense, past participle
Spelling: tire → tired: add -d

Practice

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