as in boredom
the state of being bored
the tedium of spending a rainy afternoon trapped inside the house
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Recent Examples of tedium
Game 3 of the World Series was a stone-cold thriller, with peaks of high drama and longueurs of exquisitely tense tedium.
—
Steve Rushin, The Atlantic, 2 Nov. 2025
The resort’s Western hospitality is legendary, saving guests the hassle of planning and the tedium of ski lift lines.
—Suzanne Wright, USA Today, 28 Oct. 2025
But there’s something more to the Kalimotxo, something that seems to be immune to sophomoric tedium or mixological condescension, something that keeps people going back decade after decade.
—Jason O'Bryan, Robb Report, 11 Oct. 2025
Each of them offers money and position but nothing much in the way of pleasure, excitement, intellectual stimulation, or the prospect of anything other than a life of loveless, socially irreproachable tedium possibly brightened by the occasional extramarital affair.
—Literary Hub, 2 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tedium
Steve Rushin, The Atlantic, 2 Nov. 2025
The resort’s Western hospitality is legendary, saving guests the hassle of planning and the tedium of ski lift lines.
—Suzanne Wright, USA Today, 28 Oct. 2025
But there’s something more to the Kalimotxo, something that seems to be immune to sophomoric tedium or mixological condescension, something that keeps people going back decade after decade.
—Jason O'Bryan, Robb Report, 11 Oct. 2025
Each of them offers money and position but nothing much in the way of pleasure, excitement, intellectual stimulation, or the prospect of anything other than a life of loveless, socially irreproachable tedium possibly brightened by the occasional extramarital affair.
—Literary Hub, 2 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tedium
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tedium
boredom
Noun
-
There’s a timeless feeling of childhood in the unstructured fluidity of their day, teetering on the border of dreaminess and boredom, its possibilities both expanded and limited by the boys’ imagination.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
6 Feb. 2026
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The Benevolent Knights of the Raccoon, the group responsible for Armadillo Day, traced their origins to beer, boredom and Texas heritage.—
Ana Gutierrez,
Austin American Statesman,
3 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tedium.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tedium. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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