dull

1. 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. 7. 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 WORDS FROM dull

dullness, dulness, noundully, adverbun·dulled, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use dull in a sentence

Far less appreciated, Houston, rather than being a southern city of duller wits, actually ranks second in engineers per capita.
Battle of the Upstarts: Houston vs. San Francisco Bay|Joel Kotkin|October 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This morning, I picked up the recently published biography of Schulz, whose real life seemed duller than a bag of flour.
The Day I Met Charles Schulz|Daniel J. Levitin|February 12, 2013|DAILY BEAST
How much drabber, duller, and more tedious this race will be without those daffy Huntsman girls.
We'll Miss the Hunstman Daughters the Most|Michelle Cottle|January 16, 2012|DAILY BEAST
His daughters on the other hand… How much drabber, duller, and more tedious this race will be without those daffy Huntsman Girls.
The Jon Huntsman Fallout|The Daily Beast|January 16, 2012|DAILY BEAST

Peter Beinart says the House will be a duller, meaner place when he leaves.
Charlie Rangel Found Guilty|Peter Beinart|November 16, 2010|DAILY BEAST
This phase of literature lived on later into the century, but it became duller and less popular.
The English Church in the Eighteenth Century|Charles J. Abbey and John H. Overton
So another link with the past was broken, and another spot of colour wiped away from these duller days of uniformity and routine.
The Influence and Development of English Gilds|Francis Aiden Hibbert
"Mademoiselle means that I am duller than usual," I suggested.
Dross|Henry Seton Merriman
While daisies dress in gold and white, although their gold is duller.
Graded Memory Selections|Various
Of course the minute you are well you will go, and the house will be duller than ever without you.
Queensland Cousins|Eleanor Luisa Haverfield

British Dictionary definitions for dull

dull

/ (dʌl) /

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

to make or become dull

Derived forms of dull

dullish, adjectivedullness or dulness, noundully, adverb

Word Origin for dull

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with dull

dull

In addition to the idiom beginning with dull

dull as dishwater

also see:

never a dull moment

dull

OTHER WORDS FOR dull

OPPOSITES FOR dull

Origin of dull

synonym study for dull

OTHER WORDS FROM dull

Words related to dull

How to use dull in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for dull

Derived forms of dull

Word Origin for dull

Other Idioms and Phrases with dull