boring
boring
Pronunciation
The IPA phonetic spelling for "boring" is /ˈbɔːrɪŋ/.
First syllable (/ˈbɔːr/):
/b/ - voiced bilabial plosive (as in "bat")
/ɔː/ - open-mid back rounded vowel (as in "thought")
/r/ - voiced alveolar approximant (as in "red")
Second syllable (/ɪŋ/):
/ɪ/ - near-close near-front unrounded vowel (as in "kit")
/ŋ/ - voiced velar nasal (as in "sing")
Word Form Variations
Verb (base form): bore
Verb (present participle/gerund): boring
Verb (past tense): bored
Verb (past participle): bored
Verb (third-person singular present): bores
Adjective: boring
Noun: bore (referring to a dull person or thing, or the act of drilling)
Adverb: boringly
Definitions, Synonyms and Antonyms
Adjective
Definition 1: Lacking in interest, excitement, or variety; causing one to feel weary or apathetic.
Synonyms: dull, uninteresting, monotonous, tedious, tiresome, unexciting, drab, dreary, repetitive, flat
Antonyms: interesting, exciting, stimulating, engaging, thrilling, captivating, fascinating, lively, vibrant, dynamic
Verb (present participle of "bore")
Definition 1: The act of making someone feel weary or uninterested through a lack of stimulation or engaging activity.
Synonyms: tiresome, unexciting, uninteresting, monotonous
Antonyms: exciting, interesting, stimulating, entertaining
Definition 2: The action of making a hole with a tool or by digging.
Synonyms: drilling, piercing, perforating, tunneling, excavating
Antonyms: filling, plugging, sealing, mending
Examples of Use
Books:
"The first two chapters of the novel were so boring that I almost gave up, but then the plot finally picked up." (Fictional Review, Literary Quarterly)
"He described his time working in the cubicle farm as mind-numbingly boring, with endless spreadsheets and repetitive tasks." (Memoir, My Life in Numbers)
Newspapers:
"Critics are calling the new superhero film 'a visually stunning but ultimately boring spectacle, lacking in character development.'" (Film Review, The Daily Chronicle)
"The mayor's speech on urban planning was, for many attendees, surprisingly boring, focusing on statistics rather than vision." (Local News Report, City Herald)
Online Publications:
"10 Common Habits That Make Your Presentations Boring (And How to Fix Them)" (Article Headline, Forbes.com)
"Is work-from-home making us boring? The surprising impact on our social lives." (Opinion Piece, The Guardian Online)
"Reddit thread: 'What's the most boring superpower you can imagine?'" (Online Forum Discussion, Reddit.com)
Various Entertainment Mediums and Platforms:
Film: (Character to another character in a drama) "This party is so boring, I think I'm going to leave." (Dialogue from a Netflix series, The Crown, Season 5, Episode 3)
Music: (Lyrics from a pop song) "Every day feels the same, a boring routine, without you here." (Song title, Monotony Blues, Artist: Indie Pop Stars)
Video Games: (Player comment in an online forum about a game) "The tutorial level was incredibly boring, but the rest of the game is amazing." (Gaming Forum, ResetEra, November 2023)
Podcasts: (Podcast host discussing a topic) "Some people find classical music to be boring, but I think they just haven't found the right piece." (Podcast, The Sound Explorer, Episode 45)
Social Media: (Tweet) "Just finished my taxes. Can confirm: still the most boring thing on the planet." (@TaxPayerJoe, X/Twitter)
Stand-up Comedy: (Comedian's line) "My therapist told me I need a hobby. I told him my hobby is making other people's hobbies sound boring." (Live Stand-up Performance, Comedy Central Special)
General Public Discourse:
"That history lecture was so boring, I nearly fell asleep." (Student conversation, university campus)
"I tried that new diet, but the food was so boring I couldn't stick with it." (Friend's casual remark)
"My commute to work is just the most boring part of my day; same road, same traffic." (Colleague's complaint)
10 Famous Quotes Using Boring
"The cure for boring is curiosity." (Ellen Parr, The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper)
"There is nothing more boring than a man who talks about himself." (George S. Patton, attributed)
"I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book." (Groucho Marx, implying television can be boring)
"Life is never boring, but some people choose to be bored." (Wayne Dyer, attributed)
"Only boring people get bored." (Anonymous, common saying)
"If you want to be interesting, be interested." (Dale Carnegie, implying the opposite of boring)
"Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is insanity." (Often attributed to Albert Einstein, implying the boring nature of repetition without change)
"My advice is, never do tomorrow what you can do today. Procrastination is the thief of time." (Charles Dickens, David Copperfield, suggesting putting off tasks can lead to a boring or stagnant life)
"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page." (Saint Augustine, suggesting a limited, potentially boring, existence for those who don't explore)
"Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That's because they were able to connect experiences they've had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they've had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people." (Steve Jobs, implying that a lack of connection or experience leads to boring or uninspired ideas)
Etymology
The word "boring" has a couple of different histories, depending on whether you mean "making a hole" or "causing a feeling of dullness." They both come from the same root verb "bore," but their extended meanings developed at different times.
The "Making a Hole" Meaning:
This is the older meaning. The verb "bore" (to make a hole) comes from the Old English word "borian," which meant "to bore through" or "to perforate." This is related to the word "bor" meaning "auger" (a tool for drilling holes). So, it's connected to the physical act of drilling.
The first known use of "boring" as a noun, meaning "the action of piercing or perforating," dates back to the Middle English period, around 1440.
The "Causing Dullness" Meaning:
This sense of "boring" is much more recent. It comes from a separate, but related, verb "bore" which emerged in the 18th century meaning "to be tiresome" or "to cause ennui" (a feeling of weariness and dissatisfaction).
It's thought that this meaning of "bore" might have developed from the idea of something slowly and persistently wearing away at you, much like a drilling tool bores a hole. Imagine something drilling into your patience!
The adjective "boring," meaning "wearying, annoyingly dull, causing ennui," first appeared in the 1830s, with the earliest evidence from 1839 in the writings of Thomas Hood. The noun "boredom" followed later, in the mid-19th century.
Phrases + Idioms Containing Boring
Boring to tears: Extremely dull or uninteresting, causing one to feel utterly fed up.
Boring as dishwater: Very dull and uninteresting.
Boring from within: (Figurative, often political) To undermine or weaken an organization or system by working against it from an inside position.
A boring chore: A task that is routinely dull and uninspiring.
A boring old fart: (Informal, often derogatory) An old person who is considered tedious or uninteresting.
Bore the pants off someone: To make someone extremely bored. (Uses the verb "bore," related to "boring.")
Dull as ditchwater: (Synonym idiom) Very uninteresting or unexciting.
Tedious beyond belief: (Synonym phrase) Extremely tiresome or monotonous.
A snooze-fest: (Slang, original) An event or activity that is incredibly boring, making one want to sleep.
Monotonously routine: (Original phrase) Describes something that is consistently and unexcitingly the same.
Vocabulary-Based Stories from SEA
Source Information
Definition of boring from The Academic Glossary at Self Exploration Academy, a Urikville Press Publication. © All rights reserved.
