Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Arousing little interest; lacking liveliness; boring.
- adjective Not brisk or rapid; sluggish.
- adjective Not having a sharp edge or point; blunt.
- adjective Not intensely or keenly felt.
- adjective Not bright, vivid, or shiny.
- adjective Cloudy or overcast.
- adjective Not clear or resonant.
- adjective Intellectually weak or obtuse; stupid.
- adjective Lacking responsiveness or alertness; insensitive.
- adjective Dispirited; depressed.
- transitive & intransitive verb To make or become dull.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Stupid; foolish; doltish; blockish; slow of understanding: as, a lad of dull intellect.
- Heavy; sluggish; drowsy; inanimate; slow in thought, expression, or action: as, a surfeit leaves one dull; a dull thinker; a dull sermon; a dull stream; trade is dull.
- Wanting sensibility or keenness; not quick in perception: as, dull of hearing; dull of seeing.
- Sad; melancholy; depressed; dismal.
- Not pleasing or enlivening; not exhilarating; causing dullness or ennui; depressing; cheerless: as, dull weather; a dull prospect.
- Gross; inanimate; insensible.
- Not bright or clear; not vivid; dim; obscure: as, a dull fire or light; a dull red color; the mirror gives a dull reflection.
- Not sharp or acute; obtuse; blunt: as, a dull sword; a dull needle.
- Not keenly felt; not intense: as, a dull pain.
- noun A noose of string or wire used to snare fish; usually, a noose of bright copper wire attached by a short string to a stout pole.
- To fish with a dull: as, to
dull for trout. - To make dull, stupid, heavy, insensible, etc.; lessen the vigor, activity, or sensitiveness of; render inanimate; damp: as, to
dull the wits; to dull the senses. - To render dim; sully; tarnish or cloud: as, the breath dulls a mirror.
- To make less sharp or acute; render blunt or obtuse: as, to
dull a knife or a needle. - To make less keenly felt; moderate the intensity of: as, to
dull pain. - To become dull or blunt; become stupid.
- To become calm; moderate: as, the wind dulled, or dulled down, about twelve o'clock.
- To become deadened in color; lose brightness.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To become dull or stupid.
- adjective Slow of understanding; wanting readiness of apprehension; stupid; doltish; blockish.
- adjective Slow in action; sluggish; unready; awkward.
- adjective Insensible; unfeeling.
- adjective Not keen in edge or point; lacking sharpness; blunt.
- adjective Not bright or clear to the eye; wanting in liveliness of color or luster; not vivid; obscure; dim
- adjective Heavy; gross; cloggy; insensible; spiritless; lifeless; inert.
- adjective Furnishing little delight, spirit, or variety; uninteresting; tedious; cheerless; gloomy; melancholy; depressing; ; hence, cloudy; overcast.
- transitive verb To deprive of sharpness of edge or point.
- transitive verb To make dull, stupid, or sluggish; to stupefy, as the senses, the feelings, the perceptions, and the like.
- transitive verb To render dim or obscure; to sully; to tarnish.
- transitive verb To deprive of liveliness or activity; to render heavy; to make inert; to depress; to weary; to sadden.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Lacking the ability to
cut easily; notsharp . - adjective
Boring ; notexciting orinteresting . - adjective Not
shiny ; having amatte finish or no particularluster . - adjective Not
bright orintelligent ; stupid; slow of understanding. - verb transitive To render dull; to remove or
blunt an edge or something that was sharp. - verb transitive To soften,
moderate orblunt . - verb intransitive To lose a
sharp edge; to become dull.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
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Examples
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It has been called "the dull product of a scoffer's pen"; it is indeed the "product of a scoffer's pen"; but after reading the Excursion, few people will think it _dull_.
Lectures on the English Poets Delivered at the Surrey Institution William Hazlitt 1804
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"It is so what you call dull, Sir John," she protested in her coquettish way.
Hurricane Island 1892
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"I don't know what you call dull," replied the old man, as if half offended at the suggestion.
The Portent & Other Stories George MacDonald 1864
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Inventor Thomas Edison, who gave us the light bulb and other inventions 1,093 patents that ushered in the 20th century, was called dull by a grade school teacher who believed that Edison had no ability to learn.
Bernard Starr: Should Obama Show His School Transcripts? Bernard Starr 2011
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Inventor Thomas Edison, who gave us the light bulb and other inventions 1,093 patents that ushered in the 20th century, was called dull by a grade school teacher who believed that Edison had no ability to learn.
Bernard Starr: Should Obama Show His School Transcripts? Bernard Starr 2011
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Noah says brilliant it puts alot of fun in dull things
X – tape, Hinge Print Tape by Hyoungmin Park & Jeongmin Lee for mmiinn » Yanko Design 2010
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October 13, 2009 at 12: 51 am. .and OMG how boring and dull is Lucie?!
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Inventor Thomas Edison, who gave us the light bulb and other inventions 1,093 patents that ushered in the 20th century, was called dull by a grade school teacher who believed that Edison had no ability to learn.
Bernard Starr: Should Obama Show His School Transcripts? Bernard Starr 2011
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Inventor Thomas Edison, who gave us the light bulb and other inventions 1,093 patents that ushered in the 20th century, was called dull by a grade school teacher who believed that Edison had no ability to learn.
Bernard Starr: Should Obama Show His School Transcripts? Bernard Starr 2011
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Inventor Thomas Edison, who gave us the light bulb and other inventions 1,093 patents that ushered in the 20th century, was called dull by a grade school teacher who believed that Edison had no ability to learn.
Bernard Starr: Should Obama Show His School Transcripts? Bernard Starr 2011
frogapplause commented on the word dull
John McGrath's eyes are fine... he really is a dull boy.
September 7, 2009
hernesheir commented on the word dull
"A young Woman her name was Dull."
John Bunyan (1628-1688), Pilgrim's Progress
September 20, 2009