English Explanatory Dictionary

boring

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The act or process of boring holes; such practice as an area of expertise in manufacturing.
  2. Enlarging an existing hole with a single-point cutting tool or a boring head (usually with high precision and accuracy regarding the roundness and size of the hole).
  3. Drilling.
  4. A pit or hole which has been bored.
  5. One of the fragments thrown up when something is bored or drilled.
verb
  1. present participle and gerund of bore
adj
  1. Causing boredom or tiredness; making one feel tired and impatient.
  2. Suffering from boredom; mildly annoyed and restless through having nothing to do.
  3. Used, designed to be used, or able to drill holes.
  4. Capable of penetrating; piercing.
name
  1. A surname.
  2. An unincorporated community in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States.
  3. An unincorporated community in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States.
  4. An unincorporated community in Sullivan County, Tennessee, United States.

Pronunciation

/ˈbɔː.ɹɪŋ/ /ˈboɹ.ɪŋ/ en-us-boring.ogg /ˈboː.ɹɪŋ/ /ˈboə.ɹɪŋ/

Word forms

boring borings more boring boringer most boring boringest

Etymology

From Middle English boryng (“making a hole”); equivalent to bore + -ing.

Synonyms

chip swarf dull mind-numbing tedious banal basic beat blah bland boring cold colourless corny drab stuffy dreich drowsy dull as dishwater flat heavy going ho-hum humdrum insipid lackluster lame languid lifeless longsome monotonous mundane no fun at parties plain plodding prosaic prosy pedantic pedestrian static straightforward snoozeworthy soporific uncool wan weaksauce wooden uninteresting stodgy vapid vanilla bored

Antonyms

arousing captivating charming engaging enchanting fascinating entertaining exciting interesting

Related words

bore bored boredom common

Derived words

macroboring microboring tunnel boring machine boring as beans Boring Billion boringly boringness nonboring unboring wood-boring

Translations

Māori: orenga
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on B Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary