tedious
/'ti:djəs/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Causing mental weariness or boredom due to being too long, slow, or repetitive: Describes something that is tiresome, monotonous, and lacking in interest or variety.
- Excessively long and wordy: Describes speech or writing that is overly verbose and dull.
Usage and Examples
Describing a boring task or activity:
- Filling out these forms is a tedious process.
- The work was repetitive and tedious.
Describing dull speech or writing:
- He gave a tedious, two-hour lecture on regulatory compliance.
- I found the book's description of the landscape to be rather tedious.
Describing a monotonous period of time:
- The tedious journey seemed to last forever.
- She spent a tedious afternoon waiting for the phone to ring.
Advanced Usage
"To find something tedious": A common collocation expressing personal experience of boredom.
- Many students find memorizing vocabulary lists tedious.
"Tedious in the extreme": An emphatic phrase meaning extremely boring.
- The data entry job was tedious in the extreme.
Variants and Related Words
Tediously (adverb): In a boring, monotonous manner.
- The meeting dragged on tediously for hours.
Tediousness (noun): The state or quality of being tedious.
- The tediousness of the routine was demoralizing.
Synonyms
- Boring: Uninteresting and tiresome.
- Monotonous: Dull because of lack of variation.
- Tiresome: Causing one to feel bored or annoyed.
- Wearisome: Causing weariness or fatigue.
- Dull: Lacking interest or excitement.
- Dry: Dull and uninteresting (often for academic subjects).
Antonyms
- Engaging: Charming and attractive.
- Exciting: Causing great enthusiasm and eagerness.
- Interesting: Arousing curiosity or holding attention.
- Stimulating: Encouraging interest or enthusiasm.
Idioms and Phrases
A tedious business/affair: Used to describe an entire situation or process that is boring.
- Getting all the permits was a tedious business.
To plod through something tedious: To continue slowly and laboriously with a boring task.
- We had to plod through hundreds of pages of tedious legal documents.
Adjective
- using or containing too many words
- long-winded (or windy) speakers
- verbose and ineffective instructional methods
- newspapers of the day printed long wordy editorials
- proceedings were delayed by wordy disputes
- so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness
- a boring evening with uninteresting people
- the deadening effect of some routine tasks
- a dull play
- his competent but dull performance
- a ho-hum speaker who couldn't capture their attention
- what an irksome task the writing of long letters is- Edmund Burke
- tedious days on the train
- the tiresome chirping of a cricket- Mark Twain
- other people's dreams are dreadfully wearisome