dull

[duhl]

adjective

duller, dullest 

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: stolid, unintelligent, unimaginative
   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

Other Word Forms

• dullness noun
• dulness noun
• dully adverb
• undulled adjective
• dullish 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

• 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

Bero wrote, “In all cases, she manages to make her subjects look dull, ashy, pained and sad, a far cry from the lively and graceful people that they usually are.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

This is not as hard work as pounding the obelisk with dolerite, but it is still hard, dull work.

Read more on Literature

The utopia of free credit wasn’t long for the world, and the social media platforms built on it would soon become a pit of snakes, ushering in an era of dull and dangerous personalities.

Read more on Salon

The classic vacuum-infusion process took about a week, but Ms. Terekh had “a pretty dull idea” about how to expedite the process.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“Nothing happened with the first one. With the second, it struck under the bridge of the second enemy ship, but instead of an explosion the sound man picked up only a dull thud—another dud.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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