tiresome
Americanadjective
-
causing or liable to cause a person to tire; wearisome.
a tiresome job.
-
annoying or vexatious.
- Antonyms:
- interesting
adjective
Other Word Forms
- tiresomely adverb
- tiresomeness noun
Etymology
Origin of tiresome
Explanation
Something that's tiresome is extremely dull or annoying, like the tiresome lecture your whole class gets every time some forgets to turn in their homework. Your little sister might love her enormous picture book about trucks, while you find it tiresome (especially when you're reading it to her for the tenth time). It's entirely possible that she finds some of your favorite things—like French movies, baking pies, or jazz—equally tiresome. This synonym for tedious first appeared around 1500, from the verb tire, or "become weary."
Vocabulary lists containing tiresome
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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Nothing But the Truth
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This Is Not a Drill: Synonyms for "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.
Dwight Macdonald managed the difficult feat of being a democratic socialist and at the same time a tiresome snob and cultural reactionary, often coming off like a retired colonel at his London club.
From Salon • Apr. 19, 2026
“I thoroughly enjoy using Twitter to get a reaction out of tiresome people.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 2, 2026
I think people will find this increasing speculation of real versus fake to be tiresome and begin to tune out.
From Barron's • Jan. 1, 2026
It'll be long and tiresome in Washington on Friday, it's got all the potential to be gaudy and embarrassing, uneasy on the eyes and the ears.
From BBC • Dec. 5, 2025
Depew’s oratory on the fair quickly grew tiresome, but the man had a way of capturing with wit and brevity the true character of a situation.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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.
