boring

B3O1R1I1N1G2
UK/ˈbɔː.ɹɪŋ/US/ˈboɹ.ɪŋ//ˈboː.ɹɪŋ//ˈboə.ɹɪŋ/

noun

The act or process of boring holes; such practice as an area of expertise in manufacturing.

“turning and boring”

CommonScrabble 9

Meanings

boring1

nounboring (countable and uncountable, plural borings)

plural borings

  1. countableuncountableThe act or process of boring holes; such practice as an area of expertise in manufacturing.
    1 more example

    A warm, soft, tender, sweet sensation. It's much like anesthesia– And mysteriously, my trembling gradually starts to lessen. Her faint breaths tickle my cheek. A very sweet scent. I abruptly feel a pressure against my chest. The great sword she carries is tearing the skin of my chest, boring into my flesh, threading through my bones, and steadily sinking its way into my body. Yet, numbed by the anesthesia of the kiss, I no longer feel any pain. Because you kill me like this, so gently– I unexpectedly become anguished. I'm on the verge of crying. To keep her from noticing, I look past her head, up at the dark gray sky that goes on dropping rain on us.

    2008, Hayashi Naotaka, “Prologue”, in Chaos;Head
    1. countableuncountableengineeringEnlarging 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).

      turning and boring

      1 more example

      fine boring with a boring head on a boring mill

    2. countableespeciallyuncountableDrilling.
    3. AustraliacountableuncountableThe act of drilling a well into an artesian basin.

      And Dan indignantly waved his long, brown arm over the plant, which consisted of the engine, the boring apparatus, and a dilapidated spring-cartthat was pulled by a lean, lonely-looking horse[.]

      1911, ‘Steel Rudd’, The Book of Dan, Brisbane: University of Queensland Press, published 1970, page 1
  2. countableuncountableA pit or hole which has been bored.

    It is common in urban areas that a great many borings exist from prior construction work.

    1992, J. Patrick Powers, Construction dewatering: new methods and applications, page 191
  3. countableplural normallyuncountableOne of the fragments thrown up when something is bored or drilled.

    Synonyms: chip, swarf

verb
  1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of bore
adjectiveboring (comparative more boring or boringer, superlative most boring or boringest)

comparative more boring · comparative boringer · superlative most boring · superlative boringest

  1. Causing boredom or tiredness; making one feel tired and impatient.

    What a boring film that was! I almost fell asleep.

    5 more examples

    “Why don’t you become a Baptist preacher?” she interrupted wearily. He smiled at her briefly. Then, from the way he leaned back, adjusted his glasses, took a quick sip of martini, Ida knew she was in for a speech. Biting hard on her back teeth, she sighed and prepared to listen as little as possible. Suffocating, she mumbled, that’s what he is! And boringer than hell!

    1956 September, Laura Beheler, chapter 16, in The Paper Dolls, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Company; Cambridge, Mass.: The Riverside Press, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 175

    Oh, let's not spoil a good dinner with a reconcilation^([sic]) scene. We’ve hardly split up. We’ll get to be like two old people who can communicate, and nothing’s boringer than that.

    1983, Peter De Vries, chapter 13, in Slouching Towards Kalamazoo, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, page 212

    “I had the most boring day in life yesterday. I couldn’t go to work with my dad, so I went with my mom.” […] “Mine was even boringer than yours,” Kitty said. She was starting to whine, and she flipped her ponytail. She did both of those things a lot. “I didn’t get to spend that much time with my dad, either, since he’s a pilot.”

    2004, Nancy Rue, “Sophie and the Scoundrels (Book 3)”, in Sophie’s Secret (Faithgirlz!; The Sophie Series, 2), Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zonderkidz, →ISBN, pages 125–126

    It made me feel a little nauseous but was great for powering through boring tasks. It did not, however, do anything for my creativity or improve my thinking in any way.

    2019 August 5, Arwa Mahdawi, “Self-hypnosis, amphetamines? I tried eight hacks in my quest to be more productive”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 30 Aug 2019

    "We've had some moments in the spotlight, and there will be more to come. But boring is good when operating railways.

    2023 February 8, Paul Stephen with Howard Smith, “Elizabeth Line: "It's not job done yet"”, in RAIL, number 976, page 35
  2. ManglishSuffering from boredom; mildly annoyed and restless through having nothing to do.

    I very boring.

    I am very bored.

    Synonyms: bored

  3. Used, designed to be used, or able to drill holes.

    boring snails

    1 more example

    boring equipment

  4. Capable of penetrating; piercing.

    [H]is remarkably blue eyes had the trick of boring concentration.

    1963, Arthur Upfield, The Lake Frome Monster, London: Pan Books, published 1969, page 11

Boring2

Synonyms & antonyms

nounOne of the fragments thrown up when something is bored or drilled.

Similar

adjectiveSuffering from boredom; mildly annoyed and restless through having nothing to do.

Similar
Narrower

More synonyms by meaning

adjectiveso lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness

nounthe act of drilling

Similar
Broader
creating by removal

nounthe act of drilling a hole in the earth in the hope of producing petroleum

Similar
drillingoil production
Broader

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Middle Englishboren
  2. Middle Englishboryng
  3. Englishboring

Inherited from Middle English boryng (“making a hole”). By surface analysis, bore + -ing.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic مُمِلّ, مُضْجِر
  • مُمِلّ (mumill)causing boredom or tiredness
  • مُضْجِر (muḍjir)causing boredom or tiredness
Basque aspergarri
  • aspergarricausing boredom or tiredness
Bulgarian ску́чен, доса́ден
  • ску́чен (skúčen)causing boredom or tiredness
  • доса́ден (dosáden)causing boredom or tiredness
Catalan avorrit
  • avorritcausing boredom or tiredness
Chinese Mandarin 乏味, 無聊 /无聊
  • 乏味 (fáwèi)causing boredom or tiredness
  • 無聊 /无聊 (wúliáo)causing boredom or tiredness
  • 沒勁 /没劲 (méijìn)causing boredom or tiredness
Czech nudný
  • nudnýcausing boredom or tiredness
Danish kedelig, kedsom
  • kedeligcausing boredom or tiredness
  • kedsomcausing boredom or tiredness
Dutch saai
  • saaicausing boredom or tiredness
Esperanto enua, teda
  • enuacausing boredom or tiredness
  • tedacausing boredom or tiredness
  • enuigacausing boredom or tiredness
Estonian igav
  • igavcausing boredom or tiredness
Finnish tylsä, ikävystyttävä
  • tylsäcausing boredom or tiredness
  • ikävystyttäväcausing boredom or tiredness
French alésage, ennuyeux
  • alésageA pit or hole which has been bored.
  • ennuyeuxcausing boredom or tiredness
  • barbantcausing boredom or tiredness
  • ennuyantcausing boredom or tiredness
German langweilig
  • langweiligcausing boredom or tiredness
Greek βαρετός, πληκτικός
  • βαρετός (varetós)causing boredom or tiredness
  • πληκτικός (pliktikós)causing boredom or tiredness
  • ανιαρός (aniarós)causing boredom or tiredness
Hebrew משעמם
  • משעמם (mesha'amem)causing boredom or tiredness
Hungarian unalmas
  • unalmascausing boredom or tiredness
Icelandic leiðinlegur
  • leiðinlegurcausing boredom or tiredness
Irish leadránach
  • leadránachcausing boredom or tiredness
Italian noioso, palloso
  • noiosocausing boredom or tiredness
  • pallosocausing boredom or tiredness
  • tediosocausing boredom or tiredness
  • soporiferocausing boredom or tiredness
  • barbosocausing boredom or tiredness
  • uggiosocausing boredom or tiredness
  • stucchevolecausing boredom or tiredness
Japanese つまらない, 退屈な
  • つまらない (tsumaranai)causing boredom or tiredness
  • 退屈な (taikutsu-na)causing boredom or tiredness
  • うんざりさせた (unzari-saseta)causing boredom or tiredness
Korean 무료하다, 지루하다
  • 무료하다 (muryohada)causing boredom or tiredness
  • 지루하다 (jiruhada)causing boredom or tiredness
  • 재미없다 (jaemieopda)causing boredom or tiredness
Latin taediōsus
  • taediōsuscausing boredom or tiredness
Lithuanian nuobodus
  • nuoboduscausing boredom or tiredness
Malay bosan
  • bosancausing boredom or tiredness
Māori orenga, hōhā
  • orengathe act or process of drilling holes.
  • hōhācausing boredom or tiredness
  • pāngūcausing boredom or tiredness
  • takeocausing boredom or tiredness
  • mākihakihacausing boredom or tiredness
Norwegian Bokmål kjedelig, kjedsommelig
  • kjedeligcausing boredom or tiredness
  • kjedsommeligcausing boredom or tiredness
Persian کسلکننده, ملالآور
  • کسلکننده (kesel-konande)causing boredom or tiredness
  • ملالآور (melâl-âvar)causing boredom or tiredness
  • کسالتبار (kesâlat-bâr)causing boredom or tiredness
Polish nudny
  • nudnycausing boredom or tiredness
Portuguese entediante, enfadonho
  • entediantecausing boredom or tiredness
  • enfadonhocausing boredom or tiredness
  • chatocausing boredom or tiredness
  • maçantecausing boredom or tiredness
Romanian plictisitor, plicticos
  • plictisitorcausing boredom or tiredness
  • plicticoscausing boredom or tiredness
  • anostcausing boredom or tiredness
  • fastidioscausing boredom or tiredness
Russian ску́чный, ну́дный
  • ску́чный (skúčnyj)causing boredom or tiredness
  • ну́дный (núdnyj)causing boredom or tiredness
Scottish Gaelic liosta
  • liostacausing boredom or tiredness
Spanish aburrido, tedioso
  • aburridocausing boredom or tiredness
  • tediosocausing boredom or tiredness
  • sosocausing boredom or tiredness
  • muermocausing boredom or tiredness
  • fomecausing boredom or tiredness
  • aburridorcausing boredom or tiredness
  • mazacotudocausing boredom or tiredness
  • amazacotadocausing boredom or tiredness
Swedish långtråkig
  • långtråkigcausing boredom or tiredness
Thai เบื่อ, น่าเบื่อ
  • เบื่อ (bʉ̀ʉa)causing boredom or tiredness
  • น่าเบื่อ (nâa-bʉ̀ʉa)causing boredom or tiredness
Turkish sıkıcı
  • sıkıcıcausing boredom or tiredness
Ukrainian нудни́й
  • нудни́й (nudnýj)causing boredom or tiredness
Vietnamese chán
  • cháncausing boredom or tiredness
Welsh diflas
  • diflascausing boredom or tiredness
Yiddish סקוטשנע, נודנע
  • סקוטשנע (skutshne)causing boredom or tiredness
  • נודנע (nudne)causing boredom or tiredness

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with boring

All rhymes →

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

boring. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/boring

MLA

“boring.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/boring. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “boring,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/boring.

Source: boring on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.