boredom
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of boredom
Explanation
Boredom can make you do crazy things, like watching terrible old game shows on television or eating the bag of chocolate chips you find in the freezer. The feeling of being bored or uninterested in what you're doing is boredom. Everyone experiences boredom sometimes. The feeling that nothing catches your interest, that everything's dull and flat, sums up the state of boredom. Too much time on your hands can result in boredom, and so can the tediousness of doing the same thing over and over again, like a dreary task at a job. The word boredom comes from something called a "boring tool", a kind of drill that works slowly and repetitively; around 1768, bore, meaning "be tiresome," became a popular slang term, and boredom followed.
Vocabulary lists containing boredom
"Play Ball!"
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-dom and -hood
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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.
"Humans are a very social species, so interacting via social media offered opportunities to alleviate boredom and join communities and develop friendships."
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
In its absence, I recognized that I mostly turned to it out of boredom, idleness or an almost inert curiosity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
They’ve become monuments to corporate greed — zones of atrophy, boredom and total disempowerment.
From Salon ● May 22, 2026
But one day, the excitement of the AI trade will come from plunges rather than melt-ups, and when that happens, you will yearn for boredom.
From MarketWatch ● May 12, 2026
During his incarceration in Japan, the only respites Bobby had from boredom and emotional turmoil were the visits from his lawyers and Miyoko, and his use of the telephone.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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.
