How do you say “Bore someone to tears” in French?
The closest natural French equivalent is ennuyer quelqu'un à mourir, which literally means “to bore someone to death”. English speakers use bore someone to tears to mean to make someone feel extremely bored. A strong, everyday exaggeration rather than literal crying. Register: informal. Usage frequency: common.
Closest natural French
ennuyer quelqu'un à mourir
/ɑ̃nɥije kɛlkœ̃ a muʁiʁ/
- Literal meaning
- “to bore someone to death”
- Register
- informal
- How often it's used
- common
- Equivalence
Near-exact equivalent
97 out of 100
What a native French speaker would actually say
French takes the exaggeration further, from tears to death. In ordinary conversation, both phrases simply complain about extreme boredom.
Change the sentence around the person: “Je me suis ennuyé à mourir” describes my experience, while “Le discours m'a ennuyé à mourir” names the cause.
How close is the meaning?
- Meaning5 out of 5
- Tone5 out of 5
- Context5 out of 5
- Literal similarity3 out of 5
These ratings are editorial approximations, not measurements.
In context
English
The guide's long list of dates bored us to tears.
French
La longue liste de dates du guide nous a ennuyés à mourir.
English
I was bored to tears during the three-hour meeting.
French
Je me suis ennuyé à mourir pendant la réunion de trois heures.
Related expressions
Last updated 2026-09-19