boring

Meaning

1. 1adjectivecomparable

   Not interesting or exciting, so it makes people feel tired or impatient.

   Grammar: Can be graded: a very boring meeting; describe the cause as boring, not the person feeling it.

   Patterns

   • be boring
   • find something boring
   • a boring book/job/trip
   • boring for someone

   The lecture was so boring that half the class checked their phones.

   I find waiting in long lines boring.

   She gave a boring answer with no details.

Word forms

Common combinations

a boring meeting

The team agreed the meeting was boring and set a clear agenda next time.

find something boring

Many students find grammar drills boring unless they use real examples.

painfully boring

The training video was painfully boring, but the safety rules mattered.

boring routine

He changed his boring routine by walking a new route to work.

Synonyms and how they differ

tedious

Tedious stresses that something lasts too long and feels slow; boring is broader.

dull

Dull can describe low interest, weak light, sound, or pain, while boring is about interest.

monotonous

Monotonous emphasizes sameness with little change; boring only says it is not interesting.

Opposites

Word family

bore verb

to make someone tired by being dull: The long talk bored everyone.

bored adjective

feeling uninterested: I am bored, not I am boring.

boredom noun

the state of feeling uninterested: He ate from boredom.

Commonly confused: boring or bored?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “boring”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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