watch paint dry

present singular third person watches paint dry · participle present watching paint dry · participle past watched paint dry · past watched paint dry

1. humorousTo watch something that has virtually no movement, hence, something very boring.

   I expected his new play to be as good as the last, but it was like watching paint dry.

   2 more examples

   I click on it. And wait. And wait. And wait. Why does it take so long? It's so slow. This is worse than watching paint dry. Not that I've actually ever watched paint dry. Or even painted.

   2012, Sarah Mlynowski, Fishbowl, Harlequin, →ISBN

   “I am starving, that is true. But I'd never get bored. I could watch paint dry with you and I wouldn't get bored.” “You could watch paint dry with me? That sounds delightful,” I say.

   2015, Kate McGovern, Rules for 50/50 Chances, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN, page 224

   Synonyms: watch grass grow