dull

[ duhl ]

adjective

, dull·er, dull·est.

1. not sharp; blunt:

   a dull knife.

   Antonyms: keen, sharp

2. causing boredom; tedious; uninteresting:

   a dull sermon.

   Synonyms: vapid, dreary, tiresome, boring

   Antonyms: interesting

3. not lively or spirited; listless.

   Synonyms: inert, inactive, torpid, apathetic

4. not bright, intense, or clear; dim:

   a dull day; a dull sound.

5. having very little depth of color; lacking in richness or intensity of color.
6. slow in motion or action; not brisk; sluggish:

   a dull day in the stock market.

7. mentally slow; lacking brightness of mind; somewhat stupid; obtuse.

   Synonyms: unimaginative, stolid, unintelligent

   Antonyms: bright

8. lacking keenness of perception in the senses or feelings; insensible; unfeeling.
9. not intense or acute:

   a dull pain.

verb (used with or without object)

1. to make or become dull.

   Synonyms: benumb, deaden, blunt, discourage, dishearten, depress

dull

/ dʌl /

adjective

1. slow to think or understand; stupid
2. lacking in interest
3. lacking in perception or the ability to respond; insensitive
4. lacking sharpness; blunt
5. not acute, intense, or piercing
6. (of weather) not bright or clear; cloudy
7. not active, busy, or brisk
8. lacking in spirit or animation; listless
9. (of colour) lacking brilliance or brightness; sombre
10. not loud or clear; muffled
11. med (of sound elicited by percussion, esp of the chest) not resonant

verb

1. to make or become dull

Derived Forms

• ˈdully, adverb
• ˈdullish, adjective
• ˈdullness, noun

Other Words From

• dullness dulness noun
• dully adverb
• un·dulled adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of dull¹

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English; akin to Old English dol “foolish, stupid”; cognate with German toll

Word History and Origins

Origin of dull¹

Old English dol; related to Old Norse dul conceit, Old High German tol foolish, Greek tholeros confused

Idioms and Phrases

In addition to the idiom beginning with dull , also see never a dull moment .

Synonym Study

Dull, blunt refer to the edge or point of an instrument, tool, or the like. Dull implies a lack or a loss of keenness or sharpness: a dull razor or saw. Blunt may mean the same or may refer to an edge or point not intended to be keen or sharp: a blunt or stub pen; a blunt foil. Dull, blunt, slow, stupid are applied to mental qualities. Dull implies obtuseness, lack of imagination: a dull child. Blunt implies loss of original keenness of intelligence through disease, sad experience, or the like: His critical faculties were blunt. Slow applies to a sluggish intellect: a slow mind. Stupid implies slowness of mental processes, but also lack of intelligence, wisdom, prudence, etc.: a stupid person.

Example Sentences

Reduced pressure on the urinary sphincter is one of the many sensations dulled by living in microgravity, along with smell, taste and sight.

From Salon

He picked one off the ground and cut off a slice to reveal the inside: dry and dull green.

From Los Angeles Times

The worthy effort to emphasize that much of the artist’s inventive genius — unfurling in thousands of manuscript pages, rather than oil paint and tempera — makes the dull staging a perhaps unavoidable conceit.

From Los Angeles Times

But to us, it can appear as just a dull white or yellow.

From Salon

Far from all Londoners falling back on dull neutrals, Durran found red was “in the fashion ether at the time”; makeup designer Naomi Donne also goes crimson for Rita’s lipstick.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• cloudy
• cold
• dark
• dim
• dismal
• flat
• hazy
• lifeless
• muddy
• muted
• obscure
• soft
• somber
• subdued