Bored: Meaning, Usage, and Common Mistakes

Meaning 1：bored (Bored)

Bored 🔊

/bɔːrd/

adj.

When you have nothing to do, or you don't find what you're doing interesting, you feel bored.

bored 🔊

➕

/bɔːrd/

adj.

Feeling weary because one is unoccupied or lacks interest in one's current activity.

📁 Category：Behaviors & Actions 🔖 Level：Beginner

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

From 'bore' (to weary), possibly from Old English 'borian' (to drill).

💡 Mnemonic

Imagine a drill boring a hole – the repetitive action makes you bored.

📖 Example

The lecture was so long and dull that half the class looked bored and started checking their phones. 🔊 The lecture was so long and dull that half the class looked bored and started checking their phones.

🔗 Collocations

bored with – feeling weary or uninterested because of something

get bored – to become bored

bored stiff – extremely bored

🔄 Synonyms

uninterested (adj.) – Not showing or feeling interest.

tired (adj.) – Feeling a need for rest or lacking interest.

fed up (adj. phrase) – Annoyed or bored with something that has continued for too long.

🚫 Antonyms

interested (adj.) – Showing curiosity or attention.

engaged (adj.) – Involved in an activity with full attention.

stimulated (adj.) – Encouraged or excited by something.

🌱 Derivatives

boredom (n.) – The state of being bored.

boring (adj.) – Causing boredom.

bore (v.) – To make someone feel bored.

📖 Cultural Story

The modern sense of boredom emerged in the 19th century as industrial work became repetitive. 'Bore' as a tedious person dates to the 1760s.