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. 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

---

boring ² British  

/ ˈbɔːrɪŋ /

adjective

1. dull; repetitious; uninteresting

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• boringness
  noun
• boringly
  adverb

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.

Example Sentences

Musk also champions digital currencies and has a hand in several other smaller companies, including tunnel-maker the Boring Company.

From BBC • Jun. 4, 2026

Frustrated by traffic, Musk founded The Boring Company in 2016, initially as a SpaceX subsidiary, with grand promises of transforming urban transportation through a network of underground tunnels.

From Barron's • May 20, 2026

Others—The Boring Company, Neuralink—haven’t come close to matching his grand visions.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026

This year the OG Warped Tour set can get a fix with Less Than Jake, skanking along to “All My Best Friends are Metalheads” and “History of a Boring Town.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026

The three Greystone kids called that “the Boring Room.”

From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Related Words

• dull
• humdrum
• lifeless
• monotonous
• mundane
• stale
• stodgy
• stuffy
• stupid
• tame
• tedious
• tiresome
• tiring
• trite
• uninteresting