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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

I don’t think voters would mind boring at all, if it was dolled up with credibility and competence.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2026

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

From MarketWatch • Apr. 10, 2026

When there was Covid and there were no fans in the stadium, it was pretty boring.

From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026

Again Rowdy and I started boring our way through the underbrush in the direction of the cry.

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls

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.