dull-witted
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
- dull-wittedness noun
Etymology
Origin of dull-witted
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400
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.
Yet in a manner almost impossible to describe, he stood above or outside his banal and dull-witted persona.
From Salon • Nov. 16, 2025
That’s 218 square miles, so big that a herd of 600 elk wanders unnoticed through the rugged dreamscape like a dull-witted motorcycle gang.
From Golf Digest • Nov. 14, 2017
Smith is also a great improbable outlaw, decent and dull-witted in the manner of the Coen brothers’ most lovable nincompoops.
From New York Times • Jul. 12, 2017
It’s silly to believe that Rodman, his generation’s dull-witted John Reed, hasn’t provided an impressive propaganda victory for the regime.
From Newsweek • Sep. 10, 2013
His companion, a dull-witted older boy by the name of Edmund, had thumbed his nose at me, putting me more out of temper.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
![]()
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.