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 of tedium

• boredom

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

The remaining episodes—a trip to Charleston, with a detour to a Boeing plant; a trip to Texas, with a detour to a CRH subsidiary; a trip to Arizona, with a ride in a Waymo—mostly settle back into the tedium of Episode 1. — Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 23 Aug. 2026

The experience is…less fun, although bad film aficionados know that some level of tedium is inherent to almost all of the most canonical worst movies ever. — Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 21 Aug. 2026

Such individual scenes aside, though, the film largely depends on a familiar trajectory, which can curdle into tedium as things proceed. — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 21 Aug. 2026

After several days of tedium, the final hours before the deadline were action-packed, as always. — Andy McCullough, New York Times, 4 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

1662, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for tedium

• cypripedium
• intermedium
• medium

Kids Definition

tedium

noun

te·​di·​um ˈtēd-ē-əm 

: the quality or state of being tedious : boredom