tiresome

tiresome — adjective

1. making you feel bored, annoyed, or impatient because something lasts too long or

1.adjectiveC2
Definition

making you feel bored, annoyed, or impatient because something lasts too long or keeps happening

Example

Naoko found her neighbour's loud music tiresome after ten o'clock at night.

find + [noun] + tiresome — expressing an opinion about something frustrating

It becomes tiresome to repeat the same instructions to every new group of visitors.

it becomes tiresome + to-infinitive — describing a frustrating repeated action

Common collocations
  • a tiresome task
  • a tiresome habit
  • a tiresome person
  • find someone/something tiresome
  • become tiresome
  • grow tiresome
Synonyms
  • tedious

    emphasises the slowness and lack of variety; 'tiresome' adds a stronger sense of frustration

  • wearisome

    more formal and literary, focusing on the mental exhaustion caused

  • annoying

    broader in meaning and does not necessarily imply that something lasts too long or repeats

  • irritating

    focuses on the annoyance rather than the boredom or length

Antonyms
  • stimulating

    something that excites interest rather than draining patience

  • refreshing

    a welcome change that restores energy instead of causing weariness

  • engaging

    holds your attention rather than making you want to stop

Grammar Patterns

be + tiresome

tiresome + noun

find + [noun] + tiresome

become/grow + tiresome

Usage Note

Unlike 'tired' (which describes how a person feels), 'tiresome' describes the thing, person, or situation that causes the feeling. Common patterns: 'find someone/something tiresome', 'it is tiresome + to-infinitive', and attributive use before nouns such as task, habit, or process.

Common Mistakes

I feel very tiresome after working all day.
I feel very tired after working all day.
'tiresome' describes the source of the feeling, not the feeling itself.
She is a tiresome runner who exercises every morning.
She is a very dedicated runner who exercises every morning.
'tiresome' implies annoyance, not simply physical effort.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

These four words all describe something that causes negative feelings, but they differ in focus. 'Tedious' emphasises boredom from slowness and repetition — a long lecture with no change of pace is tedious. 'Wearisome' is the closest synonym to 'tiresome' but is more formal and literary; it stresses the mental exhaustion that builds up over time. 'Annoying' is much broader and can describe any small irritation that has little to do with duration — a mosquito buzzing is annoying but not tiresome. 'Irritating' sits between annoying and tiresome: it focuses on the anger or frustration caused rather than the length or boredom. For example, a colleague who repeats the same story at every meeting is tiresome (the repetition drains you), whereas a colleague who taps a pen during a presentation is merely irritating (the sound bothers you, but you could tune it out).

tedious ↗wearisomeannoying ↗irritating

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • get tiresome
  • become tiresome
  • grow tiresome

Prepositions

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

Formed from the verb 'tire' (meaning 'to become weary or exhausted') and the suffix '-some' (which turns a verb into an adjective meaning 'causing or tending to'). So 'tiresome' literally means 'causing weariness.' The verb 'tire' comes from Old English 'tēorian', meaning 'to fail, cease, or become exhausted.'