A lubricant composition for an internal combustion engine contains a lubricant basestock and an effective amount for antiwear properties of an oligomer containing at least one mesogenic segment and at least one flexible segment. The oligomer can have a centrally disposed flexible segment, e.g., derived from a polyalkylene glycol such as polypropylene glycol, with mesogenic segments as end caps or it can contain alternating flexible and mesogenic segments, e.g., comprising a repeat unit comprising aromatic ester groups and at least one linear polyalkylene spacer. The oligomer preferably has a molecular weight of from about 1,000 to about 4,000 and is present at from about 0.1% to about 3%, by weight of the basestock.