adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective

1. 1
   Excessively boring, tedious, or dull; repetitive; of an activity, etc., lacking any interest or variety that might serve as intellectual stimulation. idiomatic

   "After hours of mind-numbing work sorting hundreds of nearly identical form, he needed to stop and do something else."

Synonyms

All synonyms

boringbrain-numbingtedious

Example

More examples

"This kind of work is mind-numbing, but essential if we want the project to be a success."

Etymology

From mind + numbing. Compare Old English ġemynd-benimming (“lethargy”, noun, literally “numbing of the mind, mind-numbing”).

Related phrases

mind-numbinglymind-numbingness

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.