boring
1 Americanadjective
noun
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Machinery.
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the act or process of making or enlarging a hole.
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the hole so made.
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Geology. a cylindrical sample of earth strata obtained by boring a vertical hole.
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borings, the chips, fragments, or dust produced in boring.
noun
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the act or process of making or enlarging a hole
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the hole made in this way
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(often plural) a fragment, particle, chip, etc, produced during boring
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of boring1
First recorded in 1835–45; bore 1 + -ing 2
Origin of boring2
Explanation
As an adjective boring describes something (or someone) that is tedious, dull, and lacking in interest. As a noun, boring refers to the act of drilling a hole, or the hole itself. When a geologist's powerful drill makes a boring into the earth, you can remove a sample and learn about the history of our planet just by seeing what's contained in the boring's layers. Of course, if you aren't interested in that kind of thing, you might find a two-hour lecture on the subject a bit boring.
Vocabulary lists containing boring
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.
"The premise of the show is people finding love, but that isn't what viewers want, that's boring to watch and gets icky," says Spiers.
From BBC • May 27, 2026
It’s boring and generic and there are probably dozens of magazines that would publish it.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 19, 2026
Early on, we had a movie that got maybe boring.
From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026
That’s because some of this stuff is technical, and a lot of it is boring.
From Slate • May 13, 2026
Baba comes outside on a work call, wearing his headphones and talking loudly about something boring.
From "Zara’s Rules for Record-Breaking Fun" by Hena Khan
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.
