boring
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈbɔː.ɹɪŋ/
ipa: /ˈboɹ.ɪŋ/
note: rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger
ipa: /ˈboː.ɹɪŋ/
note: rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger
ipa: /ˈboɹ.ɪŋ/
note: non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger
ipa: /ˈboə.ɹɪŋ/
rhymes: -ɔːɹɪŋ
Forms: form: more boring
form: boringer
form: most boring
form: boringest
Etymology: From Middle English boryng (“making a hole”); equivalent to bore + -ing.
Senses: examples: text: What a boring film that was! I almost fell asleep.
text: “Why don’t you become a Baptist preacher?” she interrupted wearily. He smiled at her briefly. Then, from the way he leaned back, adjusted his glasses, took a quick sip of martini, Ida knew she was in for a speech. Biting hard on her back teeth, she sighed and prepared to listen as little as possible. Suffocating, she mumbled, that’s what he is! And boringer than hell!
ref: 1956 September, Laura Beheler, chapter 16, in The Paper Dolls, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Company; Cambridge, Mass.: The Riverside Press, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 175:
text: Oh, let's not spoil a good dinner with a reconcilation^([sic]) scene. We’ve hardly split up. We’ll get to be like two old people who can communicate, and nothing’s boringer than that.
ref: 1983, Peter De Vries, chapter 13, in Slouching Towards Kalamazoo, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, page 212:
text: “I had the most boring day in life yesterday. I couldn’t go to work with my dad, so I went with my mom.” […] “Mine was even boringer than yours,” Kitty said. She was starting to whine, and she flipped her ponytail. She did both of those things a lot. “I didn’t get to spend that much time with my dad, either, since he’s a pilot.”
ref: 2004, Nancy Rue, “Sophie and the Scoundrels (Book 3)”, in Sophie’s Secret (Faithgirlz!; The Sophie Series, 2), Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zonderkidz, →ISBN, pages 125–126:
text: "We've had some moments in the spotlight, and there will be more to come. But boring is good when operating railways.
ref: 2023 February 8, Paul Stephen with Howard Smith, “Elizabeth Line: "It's not job done yet"”, in RAIL, number 976, page 35:
glosses: Causing boredom or tiredness; making one feel tired and impatient.
examples: text: I very boring.
translation: I am very bored.
english: I am very bored.
bold_translation_offsets: 10
15
synonyms: bored
glosses: Suffering from boredom; mildly annoyed and restless through having nothing to do.
examples: text: boring equipment
text: boring snails
glosses: Used, designed to be used, or able to drill holes.
examples: text: [H]is remarkably blue eyes had the trick of boring concentration.
ref: 1963, Arthur Upfield, The Lake Frome Monster, London: Pan Books, published 1969, page 11:
glosses: Capable of penetrating; piercing.
Synonyms: word: dull
word: mind-numbing
word: tedious
word: banal
word: beat
word: blah
word: bland
word: boring
word: cold
word: colourless
word: drab
word: dreich
word: drowsy
word: dull as dishwater
word: flat
word: ho-hum
word: humdrum
word: insipid
word: lackluster
word: lame
word: languid
word: lifeless
word: longsome
word: monotonous
word: mundane
word: no fun at parties
word: plain
word: plodding
word: prosaic
word: prosy
word: pedantic
word: pedestrian
word: static
word: straightforward
word: snoozeworthy
word: soporific
word: uncool
word: wan
word: weaksauce
word: wooden
word: uninteresting
word: stodgy
word: vapid
word: vanilla
Hypernyms: word: familiar
word: moving
word: normal
Hyponyms: word: wearisome
Derived terms: boring as beans
Boring Billion
boringly
boringness
nonboring
unboring
wood-boring
Related terms: word: bore
word: bored
word: boredom
word: common