Suffix · forms adjectives
Describes something worn down by time or use: timeworn (worn by time) and careworn (worn out by worry).
Written by Bryan López, English teacher · Updated
-worn creates compound adjectives meaning "damaged, exhausted, or dulled by extended contact with something." Like -ridden, it suggests a chronic condition rather than a single event. "Careworn" faces show years of worry; "timeworn" phrases have been repeated so many times they have lost their meaning. The suffix adds a literary, slightly archaic elegance to descriptions of gradual deterioration.
Noun + worn.
This is not a productive rule you can apply freely: it is a closed set of fixed expressions. Learn them one by one as set phrases.
-worn
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"-worn" suggests gradual damage through use or time (careworn, weatherworn). "-torn" suggests violent rupture or conflict (war-torn, strife-torn). A "war-worn" soldier is exhausted by war; a "war-torn country" is a country ripped apart by it. Both can describe post-war realities but from very different angles.
"Worn out" (predicative) = exhausted in general. A -worn compound is more specific and literary: "careworn" describes exhaustion from worrying, while "worn out from worry" is the plain equivalent. The compound is more precise and more evocative.
A trick to remember it
-worn is a signal of literary register. When you use "careworn" instead of "tired from worry," or "timeworn" instead of "old and overused," you raise the level of your writing immediately. These compounds also suggest patience and resignation — the state has developed gradually over time, not suddenly. In fiction, describing a character as "careworn" tells readers about their inner life in a single word.
Exercise 1 · Form the word
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
"The timeworn argument failed to convince anyone." What does "timeworn" mean here?
Exercise 3 · Form the word
The suffix -worn describes something worn down by time or use: timeworn (worn by time) and careworn (worn out by worry). In Spanish it usually maps to desgastado por / agotado por.
"care" becomes "careworn". It is a typical example of the -worn suffix.
Means "loaded with": snow-laden (loaded with snow) and guilt-laden (weighed down by guilt).
Forms adjectives describing something persistently dominated or plagued by something negative: guilt-ridden, debt-ridden, crime-ridden, anxiety-ridden, corruption-ridden.
Forms adjectives describing someone or something severely affected by an emotion, condition, or calamity: poverty-stricken, grief-stricken, panic-stricken, awe-stricken, drought-stricken.
-tion, -ness, -ful, -ly, -able... every ending you need to understand thousands of words at once.