Etymology
Origin of lackluster
Explanation
Lackluster is a compound adjective that means what it sounds like: if something is lackluster it lacks luster; in other words, it is without brilliance, shine, or vitality. Think dull. Shakespeare gave us the compound lackluster, first using the term in his play As You Like It. In 2:7, the character Jacques says, "And then he drew a dial from his poke, And, looking on it with lack-lustre eye..." Since Shakespeare first coined this word, it has been used to describe anything "blah"; lackluster sales would worry shop owners and a lackluster prom dress might help you blend in with the wallpaper.
Vocabulary lists containing lackluster
100 SAT Words Beginning with "J," "K," and "L"
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This Week in Pop Culture: November 3 - 9, 2018
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Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 2
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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.
This amalgamation of excessive style is a favorite at the multiplex these days, typically to lackluster effect.
From Salon • May 19, 2026
Authors often shine on the page but can be lackluster on camera.
From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2026
Intel, which has tallied big gains this year after a long stretch of lackluster performance, didn’t take out its Aug. 31, 2000, record close until April 24, Dow Jones Market Data showed.
From MarketWatch • May 15, 2026
Diageo’s DGE -0.38%decrease; red down pointing triangle revenue rose in the third quarter of its fiscal year as the Guinness maker seeks to revive lackluster drinks sales in North America.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 6, 2026
Burnham was a lackluster student: “the records of the Old Central show his average scholarship to be frequently as low as 55 percent,” a reporter discovered, “and 81 percent seems the highest he ever reached.”
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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.
