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  • All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
    All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
    A person who never takes time off from work becomes boring and bored.
  • all work and no play (makes Jack a dull boy)
    all work and no play (makes Jack a dull boy)
    Hard work without time for recreation is not good for one's health, as in If Harry keeps up that grueling schedule, he's headed for a breakdown—all work and no play isn't healthy. A proverb included in James Howell's collection of 1659, this phrase remains so familiar that it is often shortened, as in the example.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

Cultural  
  1. A person who never takes time off from work becomes boring and bored.


all work and no play (makes Jack a dull boy) Idioms  
  1. Hard work without time for recreation is not good for one's health, as in If Harry keeps up that grueling schedule, he's headed for a breakdown—all work and no play isn't healthy. A proverb included in James Howell's collection of 1659, this phrase remains so familiar that it is often shortened, as in the example.


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.

I just don't really feel like it at the moment because all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

From New York Times • Apr. 17, 2018

Is it true that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy?

From The Mind and Its Education by Betts, George Herbert

But there never was a truer statement than that "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

From Community Civics and Rural Life by Dunn, Arthur William

And Daddy Blake believed, as do many fathers, that "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

From Daddy Takes Us to the Garden The Daddy Series for Little Folks by Garis, Howard Roger

All men need a holiday, for "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

From Dramatic Reader for Lower Grades by Holbrook, Florence

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