bored to tears

Meaning

This expression means to be extremely bored, to the point of frustration or utter exhaustion. It hyperbole-suggests that a situation is so dull it could make you cry. It is highly casual and commonly used to describe tedious lectures, long meetings, or uninteresting movies.

Examples

• I was bored to tears during that three-hour biology lecture.

  I was bored to tears during that three-hour biology lecture.

• If I have to sit through another slideshow of their vacation, I'll be bored to tears.

  If I have to sit through another slideshow of their vacation, I'll be bored to tears.

• The movie was so slow and predictable that we were both bored to tears.

  The movie was so slow and predictable that we were both bored to tears.

• She was bored to tears by the endless paperwork she had to fill out.

  She was bored to tears by the endless paperwork she had to fill out.

• I thought the museum would be fun, but honestly, I was bored to tears.

  I thought the museum would be fun, but honestly, I was bored to tears.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ The presentation was so boring to tears.

  ✓ I was bored to tears by the presentation.

  'Bored to tears' describes a person's feeling of boredom, not the thing causing it. The subject of this expression must be a person.

• ✗ He is boring to tears because he has nothing to do.

  ✓ He is bored to tears because he has nothing to do.

  Confusing '-ing' and '-ed' adjectives is a common mistake. 'Bored' describes the emotion felt, whereas 'boring' describes the characteristic of a person or thing.

Related Expressions

Practice

• The flight was delayed for six hours, and we were ___ in the waiting room.

  💡 Extremely bored with nothing to do.

  Show answer

  bored to tears

• I love history, but this book is so dry it's leaving me ___.

  💡 Making me feel incredibly bored.

  Show answer

  bored to tears