as in boring
causing weariness, restlessness, or lack of interest
the characterizations are good, but the plot is just ho-hum
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of ho hum
Bill Field, Hartford Courant, 19 June 2025
Depending on whether the context is stable (everyday ho hum) or unstable (e.g., COVID-19; tariff wars; geopolitical instability etc.), the cues that get signalled and the way leaders signal these messages change.
—Ellen Choi, Forbes.com, 14 May 2025
Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 4 Aug. 2025
The jalapeno pesto it’s bathed in transports the dish from ho-hum to oh, yum!
—Jess Fleming, Twin Cities, 17 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for ho hum
Adjective
The distinction between being unique and ho hum is as thin as the crust.
—Bill Field, Hartford Courant, 19 June 2025
Depending on whether the context is stable (everyday ho hum) or unstable (e.g., COVID-19; tariff wars; geopolitical instability etc.), the cues that get signalled and the way leaders signal these messages change.
—Ellen Choi, Forbes.com, 14 May 2025
Interjection
Even one of the White House’s top economists, Stephan Miran, went on CNBC shortly after the report came out with a ho-hum analysis.
—Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 4 Aug. 2025
The jalapeno pesto it’s bathed in transports the dish from ho-hum to oh, yum!
—Jess Fleming, Twin Cities, 17 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for ho hum
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ho hum
Adjective
-
Historically, tracking demand for electricity was a boring task marked by little to no change.—
Matt Egan,
CNN Money,
4 Sep. 2025
-
Uranus has already been demanding freedom in your day-to-day, pushing you to ditch boring structures.—
Dossé-Via Trenou,
Refinery29,
31 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Biden, who ended his bid for a second White House term 107 days before last year's election, has been relatively slow to move on presidential library planning compared with most of his recent predecessors.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
7 Sep. 2025
-
With Parkinson’s, doctors implant electrodes in the brain that produce electrical impulses to disrupt the abnormal signals that cause tremors, stiffness and slow movement.—
Jen Christensen,
CNN Money,
7 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The routine can be tiring because both are raising young children.—
Sophie Carson,
jsonline.com,
3 Sep. 2025
-
Since travel can be tiring, Candow doubles his dose to 20 grams to counter jet lag from international trips.—
Matt Fuchs,
Time,
2 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Horror of this scale has the effect of deadening words, making stories of the most unimaginable violence land with a dull thud.—
Jack Sheehan
September 4,
Literary Hub,
4 Sep. 2025
-
The water wasn’t quite as hot as the Braun, and the coffee was just a hair duller in taste.—
Noah Kaufman,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
The recent rash of CEOs Gone Wild is arguably even stupider than commonplace fraud, and a troubling sign that there continues to be a slippery slope of accountability for C-Suite leadership.—
Ian Chaffee,
Fortune,
5 Sep. 2025
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The accounts team logs in right on time, and the stupid dance of platitudes that precedes every meeting at every company around the world begins.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Companies are grappling with inflation-weary buyers cutting back spending or switching to generic labels and the rise of GLP-1 drugs.—
Nathaniel Meyersohn,
CNN Money,
2 Sep. 2025
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The verse resumes, and the band soldiers on, Lenker’s perseverant guitar solo howling with the weary relief of a shipwrecked sailor spotting land.—
Craig Jenkins,
Vulture,
2 Sep. 2025
Interjection
-
The new iPad Pro marks the point midway between the way things were (Bezel? Yuck!) and the way they soon will be (Nothing but screen.—
David Pierce,
WIRED,
12 June 2017
Adjective
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Amid the album's release, Justin shared several clips and photos on Instagram of billboards and projections in various locations around the world featuring a photo with his 1-year-old son Jack Blues, and himself and his wife, 28, with the little one.—
Ilana Kaplan,
PEOPLE,
5 Sep. 2025
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Brake gently as needed - Brake normally if the vehicle has anti-lock brakes and pump brakes gently if in an older vehicle.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
5 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ho hum.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ho%20hum. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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