jejune

boring

TRANSLATION

jejune [dull] = langweilig, uninteressant, fade —— jejune [naive, simple] = simpel —— jejune [formal] [intellectually unsatisfying] = unzulänglich [Erklärung, Begründung, Leistung] —— jejune [infantile] = infantil, kindisch, läppisch, albern —— jejune [nutrition] = karg, mager [Kost]

STATISTICS

IN THE PRESS

"Rachel Reeves is making the Labour Party look afraid of its own shadow. The net effect is JEJUNE, ham-fisted and, worst of all, guilty where no actual guilt had been incurred."

Anne McElvoy — YahooFinance (24th May 2023)

“JEJUNE: Shashi Tharoor describes ChatGPT's imitation of his writing. Tharoor said, ‘Hilarious. But I really can't see myself writing anything so JEJUNE!’.”

The Indian Express — Trending (16th January 2023)

Did you
know?

jejune
adjective

- boring and not interesting

- very simple or childish

- devoid of significance or interest

The Cambridge Dictionary / Merriam-Webster


WORD ORIGIN

The word "jejune" from 1610s, meanin “dull in the mind, flat, insipid, wanting in interest" from Latin ieiunus "empty, dry, barren" literally "fasting, hungry”.

Over time, the meaning of "jejune" evolved to include a sense of emptiness or lacking substance or intellectual or emotional depth.

Nowadays, "jejune" is cogmmonly used to describe something that is boring, shallow, or simplistic.



THE BORING CHARM OF HENRY KISSINGER

Henry Kissinger once recalled that, as a professor, he would go to parties, stand in a corner, and bore the few who would listen to his views on foreign policy.

Years later, he was asked if his experiences as Secretary of State had made him a more interesting speaker. "Not really”, he replied, "except now when I go to parties, people wait in line to be bored."

"Now when I bore people”, Kissinger said on another occasion, "they think it's their fault."


SYNONYMS

a bore-o-rama, about as interesting as a wet blanket, a buzzkill, a cure for insomnia, a damp squib, a drag, a mind-sapper, a one-way ticket to boredom, a real snoozefest, as exciting as watching grass grow, a snoozer, a snorefest, a tedious affair, a yawner, a yawnfest, banal, blah, characterless, colourless, commonplace, deadening, devoid of intrigue, drab, drear, dreary, dry as a bone (as dust), dull, dull as a butter knife (as a doorknob, as dishwater), dullsville, flat (as a pancake), heavy, ho-hum, humdrum, insipid, insufferable, JEJUNE, lacking excitement (pizzazz, zest), lacklustre, lethargic, lifeless, mind-numbing, mind-numbingly dull, mindless, monotonous, mundane, nothing to write home about, not worth the time of day, numbing, ordinary, passionless, pedestrian, plodding, predictable, prosaic, repetitive, routine, run-of-the-mill, sleep-inducing, sluggish, snooze-inducing, snoozeville, soporific, soul-crushing, spiritless, stale, stodgy, tedious, tiresome (as watching paint dry), tiring, torpid, trite, turgid, uninteresting, uninviting, unmemorable, unpalatable, unremarkable, vapid, wearisome, yawn-worthy


SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, say something like:

“The sad thing about JEJUNE social-media is that even the headlines have become boring!”


THANKS to Eva for suggesting today’s OWAD.


HERZLICHEN DANK to all readers helping me keep OWAD alive with single or monthly donations.

Every month, I spend evening and weekend hours with my family researching and writing your daily OWAD. It remains FREE, AD-free, and ALIVE thanks to voluntary donations from appreciative readers.

If you aren’t already, please also consider supporting us - even the equivalent of a single cup of coffee a month will help us cover mailing, site hosting, and maintenance costs. Just head over to DonorBox:

https://donorbox.org/please-become-a-friend-of-owad-5-3

or bank transfer to Paul Smith
IBAN: DE75 7316 0000 0002 5477 40
Please use your email-address as ‘Verwendungszweck’

Thank you,
Paul

More Word Quizzes: