Meaning & use
bored
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Feeling tired and unhappy because something is dull or because you have nothing interesting to do.
Grammar: Describes how a person feels, often with with or by: bored with the game.
Patterns
- bored with something
- bored by something
- get bored
The children were bored on the long train ride.
I got bored with the show after two episodes.
She felt bored by the lecture.
verbtransitive or intransitivetechnical
Past tense and past participle of bore: to make a hole in something by drilling.
Grammar: Used in building and mining: bored a tunnel through the hill.
Patterns
- bore through something
- bore a hole in something
The workers bored a tunnel through the mountain.
Beetles bored into the old wood.
They bored a well in the dry field.
Word forms
| comparative | more bored |
|---|---|
| superlative | most bored |
Common combinations
- bored stiff
- I was bored stiff at the conference.
- bored to death
- He was bored to death by the speech.
- bored with
- She was bored with her job.
- look bored
- The students looked bored.
- get bored easily
- Toddlers get bored easily.
Synonyms and how they differ
- uninterested
- Uninterested is milder and means you lack interest, without the restless unhappy feeling.
- fed up
- Fed up is informal and adds annoyance after a long time.
- weary
- Weary means tired, whether or not you are bored.
- listless
- Listless suggests lacking energy as well as interest.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: bored or boring? bored or board?
bored vs boring
Boring describes what causes the feeling, while bored describes the person who has it.
bored vs board
Board sounds the same but means a flat piece of wood or to get on a vehicle.
Practice
The movie was so ___ that half the audience was ___ and left early.
Choose one answer.
Boring describes the movie that causes the feeling, and bored describes the audience that feels it. The reverse order is the common mistake.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bored”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.