tedium

noun

te·​di·​um ˈtē-dē-əm 

1

: the quality or state of being tedious : tediousness

also : boredom

2

: a tedious period of time

Synonyms

• blahs
• boredom
• doldrums
• ennui
• listlessness
• restlessness
• weariness

Examples of tedium in a Sentence

The movie was three hours of tedium.

I took a day off to relieve the tedium of work.

Recent Examples on the Web

Then, in the waterfront wind and chill, would come the tedium of waiting for the concrete to set. —William Wan, Washington Post, 30 Mar. 2024

There are aspects of the game that make that tedium worse. —Erik Kain, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024

When Betty Buckley’s grandmotherly scholar shows up to give us a crash course in the cultural history of kids with spirit besties, an already weak film suddenly exhibits the tedium of a book report. —Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 8 Mar. 2024

Amazon Looking to reduce the tedium of controlling multiple smart home devices, Amazon is also updating Alexa to simplify smart home commands. —Scharon Harding, Ars Technica, 21 Sep. 2023

The first day especially was wasted by the tedium of finding people to follow, curating the flow and types of conversation that fit my needs. —Jason Parham, WIRED, 19 Feb. 2024

The pastors were careful not to linger too long in the tedium of Biblical history, instead deploying humor and everyday references — who hasn’t had sinful thoughts while driving in Miami traffic? —Lauren Costantino, Miami Herald, 2 Feb. 2024

Baked too long, the cake will burn, suspense turned to tedium. —Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 4 Jan. 2024

At moments — or rather, for extended stretches — these vignettes sail close to the wind of sheer tedium, but there is method in the drabness. —Giles Harvey, New York Times, 19 Dec. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Latin taedium disgust, irksomeness, from taedēre to disgust, weary

First Known Use

1662, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

tedium

noun

te·​di·​um ˈtēd-ē-əm 

: the quality or state of being tedious : boredom