wear thin

wear thin

1. if your patience wears thin, you become less and less patient. I've warned you several times about being late and my patience is wearing thin. (often in continuous tenses)

2. if a joke, an excuse, or an explanation wears thin, it becomes less effective because it has been used too much. This excuse about not having enough staff to run the trains is wearing rather thin, don't you think? (often in continuous tenses)

See also: thin, wear

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wear thin

to become less effective. It was a constant struggle to get him to do his homework, and finally my patience wore thin. The sort of character Hugh plays has been done so many times, it's beginning to wear thin.

See also: thin, wear