HUMDRUM


Meaning of HUMDRUM in English

hum ‧ drum /ˈhʌmdrʌm/ BrE AmE adjective

[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Origin: hum ]

boring and ordinary, and having no variety or interest SYN tedious

humdrum existence/job/life etc

the prisoners’ humdrum routine

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THESAURUS

▪ boring not interesting in any way:

a boring speech

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He found school incredibly boring.

▪ not very interesting [not before noun] very ordinary and therefore rather boring. People often use this phrase in everyday English, instead of saying directly that something is boring :

The story wasn’t very interesting.

▪ dull especially written boring:

The conference was usually a dull affair.

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Life was never dull.

▪ tedious /ˈtiːdiəs/ very boring and continuing for a long time:

The process was tedious and slow.

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Jake began the tedious task of sorting through his papers.

▪ monotonous /məˈnɒt ə nəs $ məˈnɑː-/ boring and always the same:

The work was monotonous and unchallenging.

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He was only half listening to the monotonous voice of the teacher.

▪ mundane /mʌnˈdeɪn/ rather boring, because it is connected with things you do regularly as part of your daily life:

He busied himself with the mundane task of cleaning the house.

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Most arguments are over mundane issues like spending or saving money.

▪ humdrum /ˈhʌmdrʌm/ [usually before noun] boring because nothing new or interesting ever happens:

He wanted to escape his humdrum life.

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a humdrum existence

▪ dry a subject, piece of writing etc that is dry is boring because it is very serious and does not contain any humour:

The students complained that the lecture was dry and uninspiring.

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a dry academic volume

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.