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:
He wrote: "Jeffrey Archer was a dear friend and an extraordinary human being. His gift for storytelling was matched by his wit, warmth and boundless energy. Life was never dull in Jeffrey's company."
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
Jean and Joan’s shared existence would otherwise make their days dull and predictable, but their bizarre circumstances let them see beyond their own purview and into someone else’s, even if only for a blip.
From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026
The princess and her mother were confined, in Victoria’s later description, to “dreadfully dull, dark and gloomy” rooms in the aging residence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
Coach Sean McVay’s strategy of arriving the day before the game backfired and resulted in a dull performance by a team that features some of the biggest stars in the NFL.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
I saw her look at the other prisoner: the woman’s skin and eyes were a dull dark yellow.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
A 1986 merger between two boringly-named pipeline companies resulted in an even duller appellation, HNG-InterNorth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 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
There is apparently no way to make these things run any faster, but Glaser, who returned often to the stage, at least gave one the impression, between the duller stretches, that it was clipping along.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 6, 2025
In general, cold water sounds brighter and splashier, while hot water sounds duller and frothier.
From New York Times ● May 9, 2024
True, the wounds still hurt, but with a different quality of pain: not the deep life-sapping ache of the day before, but a smaller, duller sensation.
From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman
For most of its long life, public nuisance was among the dullest legal actions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 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
Pandemic-era remote learning is well over, but for middle and high school students, school can still seem like an endless Zoom in the dullest sense of the word.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 13, 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
Vulgar language can be effective in a sharp response, but it dulls with overuse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026
But the passage of time naturally dulls the horror for people farther away.
From Slate ● Jan. 14, 2026
And while the film’s hyper-personal nature ultimately dulls some of its thrust, “Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost” functions beautifully as a charming tale of true love, cast in amber.
From Salon ● Oct. 18, 2025
In theory, each ingredient plays a role: one dries secretions, another loosens phlegm, a third dulls the cough reflex.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2025
The overuse of the arcana dulls my senses; the room feels thicker around me, and I feel too thin to be part of it.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
Years without regular practice have dulled his skills.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 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 medicine dulled the ache, but it’s still there, and my elbow screams at me whenever I forget.
From "Love, Hate & Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed
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
Insect repellents are not meant to kill insects, but work by dulling their senses to prevent them from finding humans, according to the National Pesticide Information Center.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2024
Slavery was a long slow process of dulling.
From "Kindred" by Octavia Butler
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