本文经授权转载自微信公众号：田间小站
SAT TEM8 GRE
外刊例句
- These days, it is the humdrum diet of benign data that prompts a yawn.
而最近，没完没了的利好数据同样令人觉得乏味。
——《经济学人》 - Tertius’s tragedy is that he never reconciles himself to his humdrum reality.
特蒂斯的悲剧在于，他永远未能同自己生活中的乏味现实和解。
——《纽约时报》
基本释义
[adjective] lacking excitement or variety; boringly monotonous
[形容词] 缺乏刺激或变化；单调乏味令人厌烦的
深入解读
Humdrum 这个与 eardrum （耳膜、鼓膜）结尾相同的单词虽然看着比较长，但却并不难记，可以简单拆分为 hum （嗡嗡声）+ drum （鼓）来联想记忆。
不过 humdrum 后半部分中的 drum 却与鼓无关，而是可能源自 hum 的变体重叠。该词最早于16世纪50年代出现在英语中指“单调的、乏味的、令人厌烦的”，多指持续地缺乏变化和新意以至于无聊乏味，就好比夏天枯燥而又持续不停的蝉鸣那般单调无趣和惹人厌烦，比如：
- 在那个岗位干了十年之后，她觉得腻了，需要换换工作。其工作大部分都相当单调。
After ten years in the job, she felt stale and needed a change. Most of her work was fairly humdrum. - 她那整天做着单调乏味的工作但收入颇丰的律师丈夫对权力的欲望永远也不会得到满足。
Her lawyer husband, trapped in a humdrum but well-paid job, will ever manage to slake his lust for power.
名著用例
She was glad to be out of the flat, because already she felt that it was a narrow, humdrum place, and that interest and joy lay elsewhere.
离开公寓到外面走走，使她心情舒畅，因为她已经感到那个家狭隘单调，毫无趣味和欢乐可言。
出自美国现实主义作家西奥多·德莱赛（Theodore Dreiser）创作的长篇小说《嘉莉妹妹》（Sister Carrie）。参见：名著下载 | 嘉莉妹妹（Sister Carrie）
同近义词
- mundane: very ordinary and therefore not interesting
- dreary: depressingly dull and bleak or repetitive
- tedious: too long, slow, or dull; tiresome or monotonous
