bored

American  

[bawrd] / bɔrd /

adjective

1. wearied by dullness or sameness (often followed by with, of, orby ).

   This activity will keep bored children entertained on those long summer days.

   She's bored with the color of her room and has decided to paint it.

   I never seem to get bored of this game.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of bore.

Etymology

Origin of bored

First recorded in 1820–30; bore ¹ ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. ) for the adjective; bore ¹ ( def. ) + -ed ¹ ( def. ) for the verb

Explanation

When you are bored, nothing is engaging you. If you're on a long flight, you forgot your book, and there's no movie, you might become bored. The adjective bored comes from boredom, the state of being where nothing is interesting or exciting. If you only understand English, you'll probably get bored quickly listening to German talk radio. It's hard not to be bored by a six hour bus ride on a featureless interstate highway. If you are deeply, spiritually bored by the world, you are suffering from ennui — that's boredom in French!

Example Sentences

Johnson: I actually really enjoy it as a guy who likes to talk and gets really bored in my car in L.A. traffic.

From Los Angeles Times • May 13, 2026

So what’s a bored, frustrated president to do?

From Salon • May 12, 2026

Since then, lacking a routine, she has grown bored, she said, and has cut back on small luxuries such as buying Pokémon cards.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 11, 2026

But he got bored with the paperwork required to emigrate and changed his mind.

From BBC • Apr. 23, 2026

He did get bored, however, and one day while we were running a long run he started doing a thing that would stay with him—with us—until the end.

From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen

Related Words

• disinterested
• fatigued
• tired