weathered

1. 1
   adjective

   Worn down and altered by long exposure to rain, wind, and sun, as rock or stone.

   Decades of sea spray had left the lighthouse walls weathered and pitted.

   The sculptor preferred weathered limestone for its softened, aged surface.

   Similarworn, eroded, battered

   Oppositepristine

2. 2
   verb

   Past tense and past participle of weather.

   The company weathered the recession better than its rivals.

   Sailors weathered the gale and brought the ship safely to port.

   Note

   One spelling does triple duty here: past tense, past participle, and the adjective. As a verb it pulls two ways. It can mean to wear down by exposure, or to come through a trial intact, as companies weather a recession and ships weather a gale. Sailors also use it for passing to windward. After be, the readings blur, since weathered rock can name either the process or the result.

3. 3
   adjectivefiguratively

   Toughened and made capable by long experience, especially of difficulty or hardship.

   The weathered detective had seen every kind of crime in his thirty years.

   Years on the road made her a weathered and unflappable negotiator.

   Similarseasoned, hardened, experienced, veteran

   Oppositeinexperienced, green

   Note

   The image of weather-worn stone carried over to people: someone shaped by years of hard going and the better for it. It grades easily, so a writer can speak of more weathered or most weathered colleagues. It sits naturally against words for beginners, as when a neophyte is counseled by more weathered professionals. It praises resilience while still hinting at wear.

4. 4
   adjective

   Made with a slight slope so as to shed rainwater, as on a sill or coping.

   The mason gave the coping a weathered profile to direct rainwater clear of the wall.

   Each stone sill was weathered slightly, throwing water away from the facade.

   Note

   A builder's word for a surface shaped to shed rain. A sill, cornice or coping is given a slight outward fall so that water runs off instead of sitting on top and soaking in. Pitched comes close in meaning. Because an old sill may also be weathered in the worn-by-the-elements meaning, context has to show whether the slope was cut on purpose or left by time.

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