Word Confusion: Warn versus Worn

Posted June 5, 2017 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Revised as of
16 Dec 2022

If’n my trousers have worn a hole in my backside, I’d really appreciate it if you’d warn me about it!

While warn and worn are pronounced differently, the difference is so slight that they are categorized as heterographs.

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Warn	Worn
Wiring Colors is Francis E. Williams‘ own work and is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. — This cautionary notice warns electricians who will work with this later.	Worn Steps is by Tim Green from Bradford and is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.
Part of Grammar:
Verb, intransitive & transitive Third person present verb: warns Past tense or past participle: warned Present participle: warning	Morpheme: wear Adjective; Verb, intransitive & transitive Third person present verb: wears Past tense: wore Past participle: worn, wore Present participle: wearing
Verb, intransitive: Give someone forceful or cautionary advice about their actions or conduct Verb, transitive: [Reporting verb] Inform, notify, advise someone in advance of an impending or possible danger, problem, or other unpleasant situation Give someone forceful or cautionary advice about their actions or conduct [Usually followed by away, off, etc.] To give notice to a person, group, etc., to go, keep at a distance, etc. To give authoritative or formal notice to someone Order Summon To admonish or exhort, as to action or conduct	Adjective: Damaged and shabby as a result of much use Very tired Verb, intransitive: Undergo damage, erosion, or destruction by friction or use [worn on] Cause weariness or fatigue to Withstand continued use or life in a specified way [Of a period of time; worn on] Pass, especially slowly or tediously Verb, transitive: Have on one’s body or a part of one’s body as clothing, decoration, protection, or for some other purpose Habitually have on one’s body or be dressed in Exhibit or present a particular facial expression or appearance Have one’s hair or beard at a specified length or arranged in a specified style [Of a ship] Fly a flag Damage, erode, or destroy by friction or use Form a hole, path, etc., by constant friction or use [Usually with negative; British; informal] Tolerate Accept [Literary] Pass a period of time in some activity
Examples:
Verb, intransitive: Can you warn us of further disasters? They warned against false optimism. You’ve been warned. “He’s going to humiliate you,” John warned. Verb, transitive: His father had warned him of what might happen. The union warned that its members were close to going on strike. Friends warned her against the marriage. They warned people not to keep large amounts of cash in their homes.	Adjective: It was a worn, frayed denim jacket, but Maryam loved it. Poor baby, his face looked so worn and old. Verb, intransitive: You can’t see it, but those mountains were worn down with each passing second for millennia. His losses have worn on him. That type of carpet finish seems to have worn well. The afternoon had worn on and on and on, and he wasn’t sure he could take much more. Verb, transitive: He had worn a red suit for the wedding. Both ladies had worn a bunch of violets. Although she was a widow, she hadn’t ever worn black. You should’ve seen it! They had worn a frozen smile on their faces the whole week! Students in the ’60s had worn their hair long. The flag is customarily worn at the foremasthead of multi-masted vessels. The track has been worn down in part to bare rock. The water was forced up through holes it had worn. The environmental health people wouldn’t have worn it. They had worn the day away, spinning long stories.
Derivatives:
Adjective: unwarned, well-warned Adverb: warningly Noun: warner, warning Verb, transitive: prewarn, rewarn	Adjective: self-worn, unworn Noun: wearing, wornness
Phrasal Verb
warn someone off	worn out worn off worn someone down worn someone out worn something down worn something out
History of the Word:
Old English war(e)nian, wearnian is from a West Germanic base meaning be cautious.	Old English werian is of Germanic origin, from an Indo-European root shared by the Latin vestis meaning clothing.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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