Possible reduplication of hum, 1550s.

• IPA: /ˈhʌmdɹʌm/

humdrum

1. Lacking variety or excitement; dull; boring.

   Synonyms: Thesaurus:boring

• French: monotone, ennuyeux, embétant, soporifique
• German: langweilig, monoton, eintönig, dröge, gleichförmig, trist, abgestumpft, einförmig
• Russian: ску́чный
• Spanish: aburrido, tedioso, soso

humdrum

1. (uncountable) The quality of lacking variety or excitement.

   Synonyms: dullness, monotony

   • 2010, Clare Vanderpool, Moon Over Manifest:

     I think it helped distract us from the dry, humdrum, and heat of the here and now.

2. (countable, dated) A stupid fellow.
   • 1834, Elizabeth Frances Dagley, The Young Seer, Or Early Searches Into Futurity, page 103:

     So, after settling it that Mr. and Mrs. Wilson were complete country humdrums, the daughters hoydens, the sons awkward half-dandies, and the company altogether any thing but agreeable, she came to a conclusion she had done fifty times before, that the country was not like London.

• French: traintrain
• German: Monotonie, Einerlei, Tristesse
• Russian: повседне́вность