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Synonyms

boring

1 American  
[bawr-ing] / ˈbɔr ɪŋ /

adjective

  1. causing or marked by boredom; dull and uninteresting; tiresome: to have a boring time.

    a boring discussion;

    to have a boring time.
    Synonyms:
    tedious, tiresome, dull
boring 2 American  
[bawr-ing, bohr-] / ˈbɔr ɪŋ, ˈboʊr- /

noun

  1. Machinery.

    1. the act or process of making or enlarging a hole.

    2. the hole so made.

  2. Geology. a cylindrical sample of earth strata obtained by boring a vertical hole.

  3. borings, the chips, fragments, or dust produced in boring.

boring 1 British  
/ ˈbɔːrɪŋ /

noun

    1. the act or process of making or enlarging a hole

    2. the hole made in this way

  2. (often plural) a fragment, particle, chip, etc, produced during boring

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
boring 2 British  
/ ˈbɔːrɪŋ /

adjective

  1. dull; repetitious; uninteresting

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • boringly adverb
  • boringness noun

Etymology

Origin of boring1

First recorded in 1835–45; bore 1 + -ing 2

Origin of boring2

First recorded in 1400–50; bore 2 + -ing 1

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.

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Vocabulary lists containing 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.

Growers were boring holes in the bases of their infected trees and injecting it.

From Slate • Apr. 20, 2026

Ariana thought it would be a "cool skill to have" but "found it hard to learn" whereas Bethan found them "quite boring... and I wasn't really excited to go and do them".

From BBC • Apr. 18, 2026

Yes, budgets can be boring, especially to a president with a famously short attention span.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026

“We don’t have margins to put further upward pressure on rates other than what is already needed. Just replacing the boring, aging infrastructure is a significant cost.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026

He did that for a while, but it was boring, and it didn't make big muscles at all.

From "All About Sam" by Lois Lowry

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.