tiresome
Americanadjective
-
causing or liable to cause a person to tire; wearisome.
a tiresome job.
-
annoying or vexatious.
- Antonyms:
- interesting
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of tiresome
Explanation
Something that's tiresome is extremely dull or annoying, like the tiresome lecture your whole class gets every time some forgets to turn in their homework. Your little sister might love her enormous picture book about trucks, while you find it tiresome (especially when you're reading it to her for the tenth time). It's entirely possible that she finds some of your favorite things—like French movies, baking pies, or jazz—equally tiresome. This synonym for tedious first appeared around 1500, from the verb tire, or "become weary."
Vocabulary lists containing tiresome
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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Nothing But the Truth
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This Is Not a Drill: Synonyms for "Boring"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Tiresome repetition doesn’t make this allegation any more accurate.
From Washington Post • Mar. 13, 2019
He is a climate change sceptic, has been nicknamed "Andrew Tiresome", and in 2010, despite his ambition, he failed to get a government job.
From The Guardian • Apr. 19, 2013
Tiresome though it is to note, music videos all but vanished from MTV not long after Beavis and Butt-head did, so the boys have had to expand their range.
From Slate • Oct. 26, 2011
Tiresome swains can be cut off with a keystroke.
From Time Magazine Archive
Tiresome old gentleman that," muttered Ferrers, "and not so cordial as formerly; perhaps his wife is enceinte, and he is going to do me the injustice of having another heir.
From Ernest Maltravers — Complete by Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
