dull
Americanadjective
-
duller,
comparative
-
dullest
superlative
-
not sharp; blunt.
a dull knife.
-
causing boredom; tedious; uninteresting.
a dull sermon.
- Antonyms:
- interesting
-
not lively or spirited; listless.
-
not bright, intense, or clear; dim.
a dull day; a dull sound.
-
having very little depth of color; lacking in richness or intensity of color.
-
slow in motion or action; not brisk; sluggish.
a dull day in the stock market.
-
mentally slow; lacking brightness of mind; somewhat stupid; obtuse.
- Synonyms:
- stolid, unintelligent, unimaginative
- Antonyms:
- bright
-
lacking keenness of perception in the senses or feelings; insensible; unfeeling.
-
not intense or acute.
a dull pain.
verb (used with or without object)
-
dulls,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dulled,
past participle, past
-
dulling
present participle
adjective
-
slow to think or understand; stupid
-
lacking in interest
-
lacking in perception or the ability to respond; insensitive
-
lacking sharpness; blunt
-
not acute, intense, or piercing
-
(of weather) not bright or clear; cloudy
-
not active, busy, or brisk
-
lacking in spirit or animation; listless
-
(of colour) lacking brilliance or brightness; sombre
-
not loud or clear; muffled
-
med (of sound elicited by percussion, esp of the chest) not resonant
verb
Synonym Usage
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.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
dullsimple
-
dullssimple
-
have dulledperfect
-
has dulledperfect
-
am dullingprogressive
-
are dullingprogressive
-
is dullingprogressive
-
have been dullingperfect progressive
-
has been dullingperfect progressive
Past
-
dulledsimple
-
had dulledperfect
-
was dullingprogressive
-
were dullingprogressive
-
had been dullingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dull
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English; akin to Old English dol “foolish, stupid”; cognate with German toll
Explanation
To dull something means to take away its edge, its energy, or its excitement. "Watching that movie will dull your senses, until you fall asleep." Let’s think of something interesting about dull. Hmm. It can be a verb or an adjective! So when you’re reading a dull or boring word description, for instance, it can dull or deaden your appetite for reading more word descriptions. That’s pretty fascinating, no? You can even use it for physical things, like a knife, which you can dull, that is, make it less sharp. You can even dull something visual, making it lacking in light, or use it describe pain — you know, the kind that is not sharp, just an ache. Exciting? No — dull.
Vocabulary lists containing dull
The SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 1
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The New SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words
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The ACT Reading Test: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 4
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In “An Unexpected Life” she makes her own decades dull.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
"When you're on tour, it's quite dull when you're travelling so it was quite good to have something to read," he said.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
While “Cursum Perficio” may be a bit heavy for some metal fans, it’s neither dull nor predictable.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
Britain's The Guardian newspaper said the movie "entertains us with creepy campfire tales" but the Hollywood Reporter called it a "dull existential drama" while The Wrap website described it as a "frustrating slog".
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
Lily leads me into the basement, andI stop her halfway down the stairs when I hear Dad’s stressed voice above the dull rumble of the washing machine.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
European soccer has lived this reality, too, its most passionate supporters crowded out by duller, well-heeled buyers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026
That show is growing duller, and more lethargic and repetitive, by the day, like watching reruns of a canceled sitcom.
From Salon ● Feb. 13, 2026
In fact autumn was actually slightly duller than average and December has seen around average sunshine so far.
From BBC ● Dec. 16, 2025
They don’t always mesh well, and the darker the series gets, the duller it becomes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2024
Each day found her duller than the day before, exhausted and feverish.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Ms. Coppola poses the dullest questions and gets very little in response.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 19, 2026
The past few years have seen huge variability in sunshine amounts, with 2024 being the dullest year since 1998, followed by 2025, which will go down as the sunniest year on record.
From BBC ● Dec. 16, 2025
“When you are a scientist, and you are trying to prove or disprove a notion, you work at the bench doing the dullest, most routine things over and over and over again,” Baltimore once explained.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2025
A great screenplay is a very hard thing to define, but one way might be "a screenplay that turns the dullest ideas into the most thrilling moments."
From Salon ● Mar. 11, 2023
He forced himself to remember the dullest things he knew—bootblack, an application form, a wet towel on his bedroom floor.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
The mouths of journalists were agape, but time dulls horrific reality.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 2026
But the passage of time naturally dulls the horror for people farther away.
From Slate ● Jan. 14, 2026
In theory, each ingredient plays a role: one dries secretions, another loosens phlegm, a third dulls the cough reflex.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2025
Because when repetition dulls our shock of them, how long before we are no longer shocked by real images of real arrests?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2025
Some of my panic from the night before eases, and the shock of standing in the middle of the opening game dulls.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
Yet performance has not dulled the appetite for change.
From BBC ● May 5, 2026
The law’s shield is shattered, and its sword is dulled.
From Slate ● May 1, 2026
Five years after a Times investigation dulled the shine of the glitzy Hollywood affair, the 83rd Golden Globe Awards, airing Sunday, will cap off a multi-day series of events and tributes now dubbed “Golden Week.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2026
For them, there will be no better feeling than paying off their mortgage and writing that last check — even if the satisfaction is slightly dulled because of your generosity.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 8, 2026
The boot thumps and the sound of dragging dulled as they moved from the hollow barn floor to the solid earth outside.
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
He says this wetter weather has been having "a dulling effect" on the Giant's outline, leaving it greener and less distinct between maintenance work.
From BBC ● May 27, 2026
Paradoxically, it is the unwavering commitment to a narrow range of recognizable figures, dulling in its totality, that turned his signature style into a full-blown brand.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026
The higher costs have prompted chocolate makers to raise their prices, dulling consumers' appetite for the sweets.
From Barron's ● Nov. 5, 2025
The little carrots designed to make betting a friendly financial proposition are dulling or just going away, and they’ll only come back in limited circumstances when new states legalize the industry.
From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2024
Emily shielded her eyes, but still the glaring rays managed to bend their way around her hand, dulling her sight.
From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
