Literary notes about tired (AI summary)
The term "tired" in literature functions both as a literal descriptor of physical exhaustion and as a metaphor for emotional or psychological weariness. Authors use it to paint vivid images of characters drained by long journeys or strenuous activities, as seen when weariness marks the end of a long day’s work [1, 2, 3, 4] or when fatigue overtakes one after extended exertion [5]. At the same time, "tired" signals a deeper sense of discontent or irritation with circumstances that have worn down a character’s resolve or enthusiasm, whether it be the monotony of an oppressive environment [6, 7, 8] or the gradual alienation felt in interpersonal relationships [9, 10, 11]. This dual usage—the physical and the metaphorical—allows writers to add layers of meaning to their characters, underscoring not only the toll of daily life as in moments of quiet vulnerability [12, 13] but also the broader themes of disillusionment and resilience that recur through narrative progressions [14, 15].
- When the boys got home again they were very tired and hungry and asked their mother for something to eat.
— from Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney - He was tired for many days after that, and the settle seemed hard and uncomfortable in spite of all the pillows and bolsters and soft folded rugs.
— from The Railway Children by E. Nesbit - To my Lord’s again and so home with my wife, tired with this day’s work.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys - I found myself on board again at half-past seven o'clock, very dirty, very tired, very hungry and very thirsty.
— from A Diplomat in Japan by Ernest Mason Satow - Tired from what had gone before, and tired in anticipation of what was to follow, K. stood up to receive the first of them.
— from The Trial by Franz Kafka - He is quite mad, and I am tired of Lahore city.
— from Kim by Rudyard Kipling - The Tarentini did not as yet openly avow their allegiance to the Romans, but secretly they were getting tired of the Carthaginians.
— from Dio's Rome, Volume 1 by Cassius Dio Cocceianus - People had grown tired of saying that the 'Disunion' was on its last legs.
— from The Forsyte Saga, Volume I. by John Galsworthy - "I'm not poor," Mary told her, "but I'm tired, dead tired, and my head aches dreadfully, and if you want Mills you can have him."
— from The Gay Cockade by Temple Bailey - ‘I’m tired of running, and the ground is dewy: I can’t sit here.
— from Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë - "You are not going away because you are tired of me?
— from The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins - "I noticed you were too tired to talk tonight.
— from Rilla of Ingleside by L. M. Montgomery - Sit down, dear boy, you must be tired; I see you are.
— from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - She seemed to be tired of my questions: and, indeed, what claim had I to importune her?
— from Jane Eyre: An Autobiography by Charlotte Brontë - Fie, fie on all tired jades, on all mad masters, and all foul ways!
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare