as in boring
causing weariness, restlessness, or lack of interest
the characterizations are good, but the plot is just ho-hum
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Examples Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of ho-hum
Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 6 Dec. 2024
Mainly the problem that is feeding a ho-hum human body day after day.
—Alex Beggs, Bon Appétit, 12 Dec. 2024
Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 9 Feb. 2017
See all Example Sentences for ho-hum 
Adjective
While ho-hum in isolation, those plays together served as a representation of how the uniquely gifted Towns has elevated the Knicks’ high-powered offense.
—Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 6 Dec. 2024
Mainly the problem that is feeding a ho-hum human body day after day.
—Alex Beggs, Bon Appétit, 12 Dec. 2024
Interjection
Moreover, on a day-to-day basis, not just month-to-month, record lows are almost becoming, well, ho hum.
—Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 9 Feb. 2017
See all Example Sentences for ho-hum
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ho-hum
Adjective
-
Covering the entertainment business is never boring, and 2025 is already shaping up to be another banger as business models that have been around for decades continue to evolve, erode and unravel.Ryan Faughnder, Los Angeles Times, 7 Jan. 2025
-
News to Know Disney buys Fubo On its face, the move might sound like a boring press release.Chris Branch, The Athletic, 7 Jan. 2025
Interjection
-
Highlights include a costume parade (for kids and parents), a Purim story and boo Haman and songs.Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Mar. 2024
-
Volunteer yourself to help with X, Y and Z accommodations if that lightens the family’s workload, without saying boo about the couple’s choices.Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 18 Jan. 2024
Adjective
-
But Williams and the Bears offense, which have struggled all season with slow starts, certainly didn’t look cool and collected prior to the fourth quarter.Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 6 Jan. 2025
-
Two juveniles darted across a branch, and the younger female began to hunt flying insects, moving in a slow crouch.Jessica Camille Aguirre, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Adams may have thought Pierce owed him something for vouching for him, but Pierce was tiring of the pouting and target requests.Vic Tafur, The Athletic, 8 Jan. 2025
-
Those two references, of course to the surprise endings of Citizen Kane and The Sixth Sense (sorry if that just ruined them for you), were meant as a jaded eye roll to a tiring complaint.Steven Zeitchik, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Dec. 2024
Adjective
-
For optimal baking, open the containers to check their aroma and if the smell is dull throw it away.Maggie Gillette, Better Homes & Gardens, 7 Jan. 2025
-
Announcer Kevin Frazier, who missed no chance to remind you that this was Hollywood’s biggest party — as opposed, by implication, to the Oscars and Emmys, chained to their dull academies — chimed in with factoids about presenters and winners, like a wedding DJ working the crowd.Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 6 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
So ridiculous the referee initially had trouble believing that anyone could be so reckless & stupid.The Athletic UK Staff, The Athletic, 6 Jan. 2025
-
And there was no such thing ever as a bad decision or a stupid question.Harrison Richlin, IndieWire, 4 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
This is a technocratic view of art’s purpose, one that reduces art to a type of soma for late capitalism’s weary workers, Apple’s dream employees on an eighteen-hour shift and counting.Michaëla de Lacaze Mohrmann, Artforum, 1 Jan. 2025
-
But rather than sporting a big smile and radiating festive cheer, Ferrell looked hilariously weary and unshaven, with an unlit cigarette dangling between his scowling lips.Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 30 Dec. 2024
Adjective
-
On the day of the shooting, Nixon-Clark was 16 years and 9 months old, just shy of reaching legal status as an adult.Emerson Clarridge, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 12 Jan. 2025
-
That policy is so old that Chapman remembers it from his rookie year in the NYPD as a young patrolman in East Harlem in 1968.Graham Rayman, New York Daily News, 12 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near ho-hum
Cite this Entry
“Ho-hum.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ho-hum. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share