different between boring vs listless

English

Etymology

From Middle English boryng (“making a hole”); equivalent to bore +? -ing.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?b?????/
• Rhymes: -?????

Noun

boring (plural borings)

1. A pit or hole which has been bored.
   • 1992, J. Patrick Powers, Construction dewatering: new methods and applications, p. 191:

     It is common in urban areas that a great many borings exist from prior construction work.

2. Fragments thrown up when something is bored or drilled.
3. Any organism that bores into a hard surface

Verb

boring

1. present participle of bore

Derived terms

• tunnel boring machine

Adjective

boring (comparative more boring, superlative most boring)

1. Causing boredom or tiredness; making you to feel tired and impatient.

   What a boring film that was! I almost fell asleep.

2. Used, or designed to be used, to drill holes.

   boring equipment

3. Capable of penetrating; piercing.

Synonyms

• dull, mind-numbing (colloquial), tedious
• See also Thesaurus:boring

Derived terms

• boringly
• boringness

Related terms

• bore
• bored
• boredom

Translations

Anagrams

• orbing, robing

Danish

Etymology

From the verb bore (“drill”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?b?o???e?]

Noun

boring c (singular definite boringen, plural indefinite boringer)

1. drill hole
2. drilling

Inflection

Dutch

Etymology

From boren +? -ing.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?bo?.r??/
• (Belgium)
• Hyphenation: bo?ring
• Rhymes: -o?r??

Noun

boring f (plural boringen, diminutive borinkje n)

1. drilling

   offshoreboring — offshore drilling

2. bore of a car's cylinder or canon

English

Etymology

From Middle English lystles, equivalent to list (“desire”) +? -less. Compare Dutch lusteloos (“lethargic, listless”). Doublet of lustless.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?l?stl?s/

Adjective

listless (comparative more listless, superlative most listless)

1. Lacking energy, enthusiasm, or liveliness.
   • 1818, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein, ch. 18:

     I passed whole days on the lake alone in a little boat, watching the clouds and listening to the rippling of the waves, silent and listless.

   • 1861, Charlotte M. Yonge, The Stokesley Secret, ch. 6:

     What an entirely different set of beings were those Stokesley children in lesson-time. . . . Poor, listless, stolid, deplorable logs, with bowed backs and crossed ankles, pipy voices and heavy eyes!

   • 1901, William Somerset Maugham, The Hero, ch. 21:

     The scene with Mrs. Wallace had broken his spirit, and he was listless now, indifferent to what happened.

   • 2005 Nov. 29, Aryn Baker, "John Hardy: Bali Guy," Time:

     “Listless, inattentive, distracted,” he recited. “A daydreamer. Tries his best, but is too slow.”

Derived terms

• listlessly
• listlessness

Translations

Anagrams

• slitless