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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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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

Chabria: We are less than 50 days out from the primary on June 2 and somehow this race remains both boring and unpredictable.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2026

He found the work boring, subject to arbitrary management dictates and not satisfactorily remunerative.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 12, 2026

“It’s kind of a boring message, I know,” Solin told MarketWatch in a previous interview.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 10, 2026

The three of them proceed to talk about boring stuff like stock markets, coupons, and whatever else adults like gossiping about.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

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.