Standard Lemma guide

boredom

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈbɔː.dəm/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: /ˈbɔɹ.dəm/
  • CMU ARPABET: B AO1 R D AH0 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The state of being bored.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An instance or period of being bored; a bored state.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, usually

Examples

  • See more citations at boredoms.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The state of being a bore.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete, rare, uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: boreism

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

the feeling of being bored by something tedious

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ennui, tedium

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: dissatisfaction

Narrower terms: blahs, fatigue

History

Etymology

From bore + -dom.

Across languages

Translations

99 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: mërzitje — state of being bored
  • Arabic: مَلَل (malal) — state of being bored
  • Arabic: ضَجَر (ḍajar) — state of being bored
  • Arabic: طَفَش (ṭafaš) — state of being bored
  • Arabic: زَهَق (zahag) — state of being bored
  • Arabic: مَلَل (malal) — state of being bored
  • Armenian: ձանձրույթ (janjruytʻ) — state of being bored
  • Basque: asperraldi — state of being bored
  • Belarusian: нуда́ (nudá) — state of being bored
  • Belarusian: нудо́та (nudóta) — state of being bored
  • Central Bikol: pagkalangkag — state of being bored
  • Bulgarian: ску́ка (skúka) — state of being bored
  • Bulgarian: доса́да (dosáda) — state of being bored
  • Catalan: fastig — state of being bored
  • Catalan: avorriment — state of being bored
  • Catalan: tedi — state of being bored
  • Chinese Mandarin: 無聊 /无聊 (wúliáo) — state of being bored
  • Chinese Mandarin: 乏味 (fáwèi) — state of being bored
  • Chinese Mandarin: 無趣 /无趣 (wúqù) — state of being bored
  • Czech: nuda — state of being bored
  • Danish: kedsomhed — state of being bored
  • Dutch: verveling — state of being bored
  • Esperanto: enuo — state of being bored
  • Esperanto: spleno — state of being bored
  • Estonian: tüdimus — state of being bored
  • Estonian: igavus — state of being bored
  • Finnish: tylsyys — state of being bored
  • Finnish: ikävystyminen — state of being bored
  • French: ennui — state of being bored
  • Galician: aburrimento — state of being bored
  • Georgian: მოწყენილობა (moc̣q̇eniloba) — state of being bored
  • German: Langeweile — state of being bored
  • Greek: πλήξη (plíxi) — state of being bored
  • Greek: βαρεμάρα (varemára) — state of being bored
  • Greek: ανία (anía) — state of being bored
  • Ancient Greek: ἀνία (anía) — state of being bored
  • Hebrew: שִׁעְמוּם (shi'amum) — state of being bored
  • Hindi: बोरियत (boriyat) — state of being bored
  • Hindi: ऊब (ūb) — state of being bored
  • Hungarian: unalom — state of being bored
  • Italian: noia — state of being bored
  • Italian: tedio — state of being bored
  • Japanese: 退屈 (taikutsu) — state of being bored
  • Khmer: អផ្សុក (ʼɑpphsok) — state of being bored
  • Korean: 갑갑증 (gapgapjeung) — state of being bored
  • Korean: 지루함 (jiruham) — state of being bored
  • Central Kurdish: بێزاری (bêzarî) — state of being bored
  • Latin: taedium — state of being bored
  • Latvian: garlaicība — state of being bored
  • Latvian: garlaiks — state of being bored
  • Lithuanian: nuobodulys — state of being bored
  • Macedonian: досада (dosada) — state of being bored
  • Malay: bosan — state of being bored
  • Māori: takeo — state of being bored
  • Marathi: कंटाळा (kaṇṭāḷā) — state of being bored
  • Norwegian Bokmål: kjedsomhet — state of being bored
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: keisemd — state of being bored
  • Persian: کسالت (kasâlat) — state of being bored
  • Persian: ملالت (malâlat) — state of being bored
  • Plautdietsch: Lankwiel — state of being bored
  • Polish: nuda — state of being bored
  • Polish: znudzenie — state of being bored
  • Polish: znużenie — state of being bored
  • Polish: nudota — state of being bored
  • Polish: nudność — state of being bored
  • Portuguese: aborrecimento — state of being bored
  • Portuguese: tédio — state of being bored
  • Portuguese: enfado — state of being bored
  • Portuguese: fastio — state of being bored
  • Romanian: plictiseală — state of being bored
  • Russian: ску́ка (skúka) — state of being bored
  • Serbo-Croatian: до̏сада — state of being bored
  • Serbo-Croatian: dȍsada — state of being bored
  • Slovak: nuda — state of being bored
  • Slovene: dolgčas — state of being bored
  • Spanish: aburrimiento — state of being bored
  • Spanish: tedio — state of being bored
  • Spanish: hastío — state of being bored
  • Spanish: muermo — state of being bored
  • Spanish: embole — state of being bored
  • Swedish: uttråkning — state of being bored
  • Swedish: tristess — state of being bored
  • Tajik: малолат (malolat) — state of being bored
  • Tajik: дилтангӣ (diltangi) — state of being bored
  • Thai: ความเบื่อหน่าย (kwaam-bʉ̀ʉa-nàai) — state of being bored
  • Thai: ความเบื่อ (kwaam-bʉ̀ʉa) — state of being bored
  • Turkish: can sıkıntısı — state of being bored
  • Turkish: bunaltı — state of being bored
  • Turkish: usantı — state of being bored
  • Turkish: melal — state of being bored
  • Turkish: usanç — state of being bored
  • Ukrainian: нудьга́ (nudʹhá) — state of being bored
  • Ukrainian: ску́ка (skúka) — state of being bored
  • Ukrainian: нуда́ (nudá) — state of being bored
  • Ukrainian: нудо́та (nudóta) — state of being bored
  • Urdu: بوریت (boriyat) — state of being bored
  • Uzbek: zerikish — state of being bored
  • Vietnamese: nỗi buồn tẻ — state of being bored
  • Vietnamese: nỗi buồn chán — state of being bored
Real reading context

boredom in complete knowledge articles