Word Study
humdrum
CIDE DICTIONARY
humdrum, a.
Monotonous; dull; commonplace. Bryant. [1913 Webster]
humdrum, n.
- A dull fellow; a bore. B. Jonson. [1913 Webster]
- Monotonous and tedious routine. [1913 Webster]"Dissatisfied with humdrum." [1913 Webster]
- A low cart with three wheels, drawn by one horse.
OXFORD DICTIONARY
humdrum, adj. & n.
--adj.
1 commonplace, dull.
2 monotonous.
--n.
1 commonplaceness, dullness.
2 a monotonous routine etc.
--adj.
1 commonplace, dull.
2 monotonous.
--n.
1 commonplaceness, dullness.
2 a monotonous routine etc.
Etymology
16th c.: prob. f. HUM(1) by redupl.
THESAURUS
humdrum
alliterating, alliteration, alliterative, assonance, assonant, banal, banausic, belabored, blah, bore, boring, broken record, broken-record, buttonholer, chanting, chime, chiming, cliche-ridden, common, commonplace, crashing bore, dim, dingdong, drab, drag, drearisome, dreary, drip, drone, dry, dryasdust, dull, dusty, everlasting, flat, flat tire, frightful bore, gray, harping, headache, insipid, invariability, invariable, irk, irksomeness, jejune, jingle, jingle-jangle, jog-trot, labored, long-winded, matter-of-fact, monotone, monotonous, monotonousness, monotony, mundane, near rhyme, nuisance, ordinary, pedestrian, pest, pill, pitter-patter, plain, plodding, poetryless, prolix, prosaic, proser, prosing, prosy, repeated sounds, repetitious, repetitiousness, repetitive, repetitiveness, rhyme, rhymed, rhyming, routine, same, sameliness, samely, sameness, singsong, slant rhyme, stale repetition, stodgy, tedious, tedium, the beaten track, the daily round, the round, the squirrel cage, the treadmill, the weary round, tiresome, treadmill, trot, twaddler, unchanging, undeviation, undiversified, unembellished, uneventful, unexciting, unidealistic, unimaginative, unimpassioned, uninteresting, unnecessary repetition, unpoetic, unrelieved, unromantic, unvariation, unvaried, unvarying, vapid, wearisome, wearisome sameness, wet blanketROGET THESAURUS
humdrum
Weariness
N weariness, defatigation, lassitude, drowsiness, disgust, nausea, loathing, sickness, satiety, taedium vitae, boredom, ennui, wearisomeness, tediousness, dull work, tedium, monotony, twice-told tale, bore, buttonholer, proser, wet blanket, pill, stiff, heavy hours, the enemy (time), wearying, wearing, wearisome, tiresome, irksome, uninteresting, stupid, bald, devoid of interest, dry, monotonous, dull, arid, tedious, humdrum, mortal, flat, prosy, prosing, slow, soporific, somniferous, disgusting, unenjoyed, weary, tired, drowsy, uninterested, flagging, used up, worn out, blase, life-weary, weary of life, sick of, wearily, usque ad nauseam, time hanging heavily on one's hands, toujours perdrix, crambe repetita.Dullness
N dullness, heaviness, flatness, infestivity &c, stupidity want of originality, dearth of ideas, prose, matter of fact, heavy book, conte a dormir debout, platitude, dull, dull as ditch water, unentertaining, uninteresting, flat, dry as dust, unfunny, unlively, logy, unimaginative, insulse, dry as dust, prosy, prosing, prosaic, matter of fact, commonplace, pedestrian, pointless, weary stale flat and unprofitable, stupid, slow, flat, insipid, vapid, humdrum, monotonous, melancholic, stolid plodding, boring, tiresome, tedious, davus sum non Aedipus, deadly dull and boring, DDB.For further exploring for "humdrum" in Webster Dictionary Online