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monotony

monotony

14 5.5
A boring feeling when things are the same again and again
  • noun
  • /məˈnɑːtəni/
translation icon : monotonía
  • Billy's good for breaking up the monotony around here.
  • break the monotony
  • escape the monotony
  • avoid the monotony

She talks about it involving routine, monotony, a certain sort of temporality.

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Examples

  • You know, just to break the daily monotony.

  • The office workers complained about the monotony of their repetitive tasks, which left them feeling unmotivated.

  • "A little something to break up the monotony."

  • Anything to break the monotony.

  • Perhaps he'll rescue me from this monotony.

  • We have several days to go on this voyage, and I can't stand monotony.

  • Songs like this helped workers alleviate the monotony of their labor and momentarily escape their suffering.

    Academic text (2005)
  • The monotony of the desert awakened in the artist a heightened attention, a meditative state.

    Academic text (2014)
  • It's his heart, his passion, his desire to escape the monotony of everyday, to return to the fatal attraction of the marvelous world of motorcycle racing.

  • And then Jumber's laughter would come again, brassily shattering the comfortable monotony of grayness and decay.

    Fiction book (1994)

Synonyms

drudgery
vsmonotony
13 7.0

Boring, hard work that you do again and again

is the general boredom quality, not necessarily tied to work
sameness
vsmonotony
10 4.2

A lack of change or variety in daily life

is about boring feeling that arises from that lack of variety
tedium
vsmonotony
10 6.8

Feeling bored from doing the same thing for a long time

emphasizes the dull nature itself rather than the tiring length
boringness
vsmonotony
2 3.8

A state that makes you lose interest

describes the source of boredom rather than just the feeling strength
repetitiveness
vsmonotony
1 4.8

Repeated use of the same words or actions that makes something boring

is broader, naming dullness from lack of variety rather than only repeat
tediousness
vsmonotony
1 6.0

A feeling that a task is boring because it is long or always the same

is the general dull quality, not focused on length or weariness
blandness
vsmonotony
1 4.1

A pleasant, polite style that feels too safe or insincere

centres on boredom from repetition rather than gentle pleasantness
humdrum
vsmonotony
1 6.7

A boring state with little variety or excitement

is the general quality of being dull due to repetition
dreariness
vsmonotony
1 6.2

A dull, gloomy feeling that makes things seem not interesting

is the neutral boring quality caused mainly by repetition
dullness
vsmonotony
1 3.7

Something that is not interesting or exciting

focuses on the boring feeling caused by repeated sameness
vapidity
vsmonotony
1 9.3

A lack of energy and interest in speech or writing

focuses on boring repetition and lack of variety rather than emptiness
drabness
vsmonotony
1 5.1

A plain, dull appearance with no bright color or style

relates to boredom due to repetition rather than only visual plainness
insipidity
vsmonotony
1 9.6

Lack of flavor or interest that makes something dull

is specific to boredom created by repeated sameness
mundane routine
vsmonotony
2.3

A daily pattern of plain unexciting activities like work and chores

captures the boring quality beyond just daily patterns
routineness
vsmonotony
4.7

Days or tasks happen the same way again and again

highlights the resulting boredom rather than routine itself
mundaneness
vsmonotony
6.7

A state of being ordinary and not exciting

points to boringness rooted in repetition and limited variety
tiresomeness
vsmonotony
5.6

A boring feeling caused by something that lasts a long time

is broader, naming dullness from repetition rather than just fatigue
uneventfulness
vsmonotony
5.6

A calm state with few or no important events

is the boring quality caused by that lack of events
staleness
vsmonotony
5.9

A lack of new ideas that makes something seem dull and familiar

is the wider dull feeling, not only lack of freshness
prosaicness
vsmonotony
9.1

The quality of being ordinary and not exciting

is the boredom from repetition rather than mere commonness
insipidness
vsmonotony
8.2

Being dull and without strong taste or interest

is boredom tied to repetition or lack of variety rather than flavor
vapidness
vsmonotony
8.4

A feeling that something is dull and boring

points to dullness caused by repeated sameness rather than style

Antonyms

582 1.3

A group of different kinds of things

434 1.0

A strong feeling of happiness and eagerness, or something that causes it

How Boring

boredom
85 1.3
tedium
10 6.8
monotony
14 5.5
routine
354 1.0
repetition
44 2.0

Surface Forms

monotony singular
monotonies plural

Morphology

monotony = monotone (semi-transparent) = mono + ton + y

The noun is formed from the idea of monotone with -y, but the modern sense 'boring because of repetition' is a metaphorical extension rather than a fully literal composition.

Etymology

The word monotony comes from Greek parts mono- meaning 'one' and tonos meaning 'tone' or 'sound', and you can see the same root in the English word tone. It originally meant 'one tone', a single repeated sound, so monotony now means boring repetition or lack of variety.