humdrum
/ˈhʌmdrʌm
/adjective
Lacking excitement or variety; boringly monotonous: humdrum routine work...
- It would be nice to go beyond the usual everyday humdrum routine, I should think.
- What were you reading when I came to take you away from your usually boring, humdrum life for a time?
- I used to feel almost trapped by the normal, everyday, humdrum life.
Synonyms
mundane, dull, dreary, boring, tedious, monotonous, banal, ho-hum, tiresome, wearisome, prosaic, unexciting, uninteresting, uneventful, unvarying, unvaried, unremarkable, repetitive, repetitious, routine, ordinary, everyday, day-to-day, quotidian, run-of-the-mill, commonplace, common, workaday, usual, pedestrian, customary, regular, normal;
North American garden variety
informal typical, vanilla, plain vanilla
British informal common or garden
rare banausic
noun [mass noun]
Monotonous routine: an escape from the humdrum of his life...
- Perhaps what also appeals to us is the ability to escape the humdrum, routine, everyday boredom and frustration just by murmuring a spell.
- When Canadians are on the road, an astounding 86 per cent choose to listen to music to beat the highway humdrum.
- Oftentimes, Drew just couldn't be bothered with the daily humdrum of people buzzing along in her life, (like a hive of visionless bees).
Origin
Mid 16th century: probably a reduplication of hum1.