About The Word Dull

Bay Area Crosswords

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Dull

Dull Meaning & Definition
Dull Definition And Meaning

What's The Definition Of Dull?

[adj] (of business) not active or brisk; "business is dull (or slow)"; "a sluggish market"
[adj] emitting or reflecting very little light; "a dull glow"; "dull silver badly in need of a polish"; "a dull sky"
[adj] (of color) very low in saturation; highly diluted; "dull greens and blues"
[adj] slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity; "so dense he never understands anything I say to him"; "never met anyone quite so dim"; "although dull at classical learning, at mathematics he was uncommonly quick"- Thackeray; "dumb officials make some really dumb decisions"; "he was either normally stupid or being deliberately obtuse"; "worked with the slow students"
[adj] darkened with overcast; "a dark day"; "a dull sky"; "a gray rainy afternoon"; "gray clouds"; "the sky was leaden and thick"
[adj] not having a sharp edge or point; "the knife was too dull to be of any use"
[adj] not keenly felt; "a dull throbbing"; "dull pain"
[adj] lacking in liveliness or animation; "he was so dull at parties"; "a dull political campaign"; "a large dull impassive man"; "dull days with nothing to do"; "how dull and dreary the world is"; "fell back into one of her dull moods"
[adj] so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness; "a boring evening with uninteresting people"; "the deadening effect of some routine tasks"; "a dull play"; "his competent but dull performance"; "a ho-hum speaker who couldn't capture their attention"; "what an irksome task the writing of long letters is"- Edmund Burke; "tedious days on the train"; "the tiresome chirping of a cricket"- Mark Twain; "other people's dreams are dreadfully wearisome"
[adj] being or made softer or less loud or clear; "the dull boom of distant breaking waves"; "muffled drums"; "the muffled noises of the street"; "muted trumpets"
[adj] not clear and resonant; sounding as if striking with or against something relatively soft; "the dull thud"; "thudding bullets"; "thumping feet on the carpeted stairs"
[adj] blunted in responsiveness or sensibility; "a dull gaze"; "so exhausted she was dull to what went on about her"- Willa Cather
[v] make less lively or vigorous; "Middle age dulled her appetite for travel"
[v] become dull or lusterless in appearance; lose shine or brightness, as of a varnished surface
[v] become less interesting or attractive
[v] make dull in appearance; "Age had dulled the surface"
[v] make dull or blunt, as of sharp edges or knives' blades
[v] make numb or insensitive; "The shock numbed her senses"
[v] deaden (a sound or noise), esp. by wrapping

Synonyms | Synonyms for Dull: arid | benumb | blunt | blunt | blunt | blunted | boring | bovine | cloudy | damp | dampen | deadened | deadening | dense | desiccate | desiccated | dim | drab | dreary | dulled | dumb | edgeless | flat | gray | grey | heavy | ho-hum | humdrum | inactive | insensitive | irksome | lackluster | lacklustre | leaden | lusterless | lustreless | mat | matt | matte | matted | monotonous | muffle | muffled | mute | muted | nonresonant | numb | obtuse | pall | slow | sluggish | soft | softened | stupid | tedious | thudding | thumping | tiresome | tone down | uninteresting | unreverberant | unsaturated | unsharpened | wearisome

Related Terms | Find terms related to Dull: abate | abeyant | abrupt | achromatic | achromatize | achromic | acier | affectless | allay | alleviate | aloof | anemic | anesthetic | anesthetize | anesthetized | apathetic | appease | arctic | arid | ascetic | ashen | ashy | asleep | assuage | asthenic | attemper | attenuate | austere | autistic | backward | bad | baffle | bald | banausic | bank the fire | bare | barren | bate | bated | becloud | bedaze | bedim | beef-witted | befog | benumb | benumbed | besot | betwixt and between | blah | blanch | blank | blase | bleach | blear | blear-witted | bled white | blind | bloodless | blue | bluff | blunt | blunted | blunt-edged | blunt-ended | bluntish | blunt-pointed | blunt-witted | blur | blurry | bored | boring | bovine | brainless | broken-record | bromidic | cadaverous | callous | candid | canescent | cast down | cataleptic | catatonic | characterless | chasten | chicken | chill | chilly | chloranemic | chloroform | cinereous | cinerous | cloddish | cloud | clouded | cloudy | cold | cold as charity | cold-blooded | coldcock | coldhearted | colorless | comatose | common | commonplace | constrain | control | cool | cowardly | cramp | crass | cripple | cushion | damp | damped | dampen | dampened | dapple | dappled | dappled-gray | dapple-gray | dark | darken | dead | deaden | deaden the pain | deadened | deadly pale | deafen | deathly pale | debilitate | debilitated | decolor | decolorize | de-emphasize | dejected | dense | depressed | depressing | desensitize | desensitized | detached | devitalize | dim | diminish | dimmed | dim-witted | dingy | direct | discolor | discolored | disedge | disinterested | dismal | dispassionate | dispirited | doltish | dope | dopey | dormant | dove-colored | dove-gray | down | downhearted | downplay | drab | draggy | drain | drain of color | draw the teeth | drearisome | dreary | drooping | droopy | drug | drugged | dry | dryasdust | dull of mind | dulled | dull-edged | dull-headed | dullish | dull-pated | dull-pointed | dull-witted | dumb | dun | duncical | dusty | earthbound | ease | ease matters | edgeless | effete | elephantine | emotionally dead | emotionless | empty | enervate | enervated | enfeeble | etherize | etiolate | etiolated | even-tempered | everlasting | eviscerate | exanimate | exhaust | exhausting | exsanguinated | exsanguine | exsanguineous | extenuate | fade | faded | fagging | faint | faintish | fair | fair to middling | faired | fairish | fallow | fatiguing | fat-witted | feeble | feebleminded | flabby | flaccid | flat | floppy | foment | foul | frank | freeze | frigid | frosted | frosty | frozen | fume | ghastly | give relief | glaucescent | glaucous | gloomy | gone | gray | gray-black | gray-brown | gray-colored | gray-drab | grayed | gray-green | grayish | gray-spotted | gray-toned | gray-white | grey | griseous | grizzle | grizzled | grizzly | groggy | gross-headed | gruel | gutless | haggard | half-witted | hard | hardened | harping | hazy | heartless | heavy | hebetate | hebetudinous | ho-hum | hollow | homely | homespun | hopeless | hueless | humdrum | hypochromic | icy | imbecile | immovable | impassible | impassive | imperceptive | impercipient | imperturbable | impotent | in a stupor | in abeyance | in suspense | inactive | inane | inanimate | indifferent | indistinct | inert | inexcitable | infecund | infertile | inirritable | insensate | insensible | insensitive | insentient | insipid | insouciant | insusceptible | inured | invariable | irksome | iron-gray | jaded | jejune | jog-trot | kayo | keep within bounds | knock out | knock senseless | knock stiff | knock unconscious | KO | lackadaisical | lackluster | languid | languorous | Laodicean | latent | lay | lay low | lay out | leaden | lead-gray | lean | lenify | lessen | lethargic | lifeless | lighten | limber | limp | listless | literal | livid | logy | long-winded | lowering | low-spirited | lull | lumpish | lurid | lusterless | lustless | marrowless | mat | matter-of-fact | mealy | mediocre | medium | middling | mitigate | moderate | modest | modulate | mollify | monotone | monotonous | moribund | moronic | mouse-colored | mouse-gray | mousy | muddy | muffle | muffled | mull | mundane | murky | mute | muted | namby-pamby | narcotize | natural | neat | nerveless | neutral | nonchalant | nonemotional | nubilous | numb | numbed | numbing | numskulled | obdurate | objective | obscure | obtund | obtundent | obtuse | of a kind | of a sort | of sorts | Olympian | opaque | open | ordinary | out of touch | overcast | overclouded | pad | pale | pale as death | pale-faced | palliate | pallid | palsy | paralyze | passable | passionless | passive | pasty | patient | pearl | pearl-gray | pearly | pedestrian | peroxide | phlegmatic | pithless | plain | plain-speaking | plain-spoken | play down | plodding | pluckless | poetryless | pointless | poky | ponderous | pooped | poultice | pour balm into | pour oil on | powerless | prolix | prosaic | prosing | prosy | pure | put to sleep | Quaker-colored | rattle | reduce | reduce the temperature | relieve | repress | resigned | respectable | restrain | retard | retund | rocky | rounded | rubbery | rustic | sad | sallow | salve | sap | sapless | sated | sedentary | self-absorbed | severe | shake | shake up | sickly | silver | silvered | silver-gray | silvery | simple | simpleminded | simple-speaking | sinewless | singsong | slack | slacken | slake | slate-colored | slaty | sleeping | sleepy | slow | slow down | slow-witted | sluggish | slumbering | smoke-gray | smoky | smoldering | smoothed | smother | smothered | sober | sober down | soft | soften | soften up | softened | soft-pedal | solemn | somber | somnolent | soothe | soporific | sordo | so-so | soulless | spare | Spartan | spineless | spiritless | spunkless | stagnant | stagnating | staid | standing | stark | static | steady | steel-gray | steely | sterile | stiff | stifle | stifled | stodgy | stoic | stolid | stone-colored | stop | straightforward | strengthless | stuffy | stultified | stun | stupe | stupefied | stupefy | stupid | subdue | subdued | subfusc | sunless | superficial | supine | suppress | suspended | tallow-faced | tame | tarnish | tasteless | taupe | tedious | temper | thick | thick-brained | thick-headed | thick-pated | thick-skinned | thickskulled | thick-witted | tiresome | tiring | tolerable | tone down | toneless | torpid | treadmill | tune down | turn | unadorned | unaffected | unaffectionate | unaroused | unbrace | uncaring | uncolored | unconcerned | undermine | underplay | undisturbable | unedged | unembellished | unemotional | uneventful | unfanciful | unfeeling | unfelt | unflappable | unhardened | unideal | unidealistic | unimaginative | unimpassioned | unimpressionable | uninspired | uninterested | uninteresting | uninventive | unirritable | unlively | unloving | unman | unnerve | unnerved | unnervous | unoriginal | unpassionate | unperceptive | unpoetic | unpoetical | unpointed | unresponding | unresponsive | unromantic | unromanticized | unsharp | unsharpened | unstrengthen | unstring | unstrung | unsusceptible | unsympathetic | untouchable | unvarnished | unvarying | vapid | vegetable | vegetative | wan | wash out | washed-out | waxen | weak | weaken | weakly | weariful | wearisome | weary | whey-faced | white | whiten | wishy-washy | withdrawn | wooden | world-weary

See Also | alter | change | change | cloud | colorless | colourless | desensitise | desensitize | soften | spiritless | unanimated | unpolished | weaken

Dull In Webster's Dictionary

\Dull\, a. [Compar. {Duller}; superl. {Dullest}.] [AS. dol foolish; akin to gedwelan to err, D. dol mad, dwalen to wander, err, G. toll mad, Goth. dwals foolish, stupid, cf. Gr. ? turbid, troubled, Skr. dhvr to cause to fall. Cf. {Dolt}, {Dwale}, {Dwell}, {Fraud}.] 1. Slow of understanding; wanting readiness of apprehension; stupid; doltish; blockish. ``Dull at classical learning.'' --Thackeray. She is not bred so dull but she can learn. --Shak. 2. Slow in action; sluggish; unready; awkward. This people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing. --Matt. xiii. 15. O, help my weak wit and sharpen my dull tongue. --Spenser. 3. Insensible; unfeeling. Think me not So dull a devil to forget the loss Of such a matchless wife. -- Beau. & Fl. 4. Not keen in edge or point; lacking sharpness; blunt. ``Thy scythe is dull.'' --Herbert. 5. Not bright or clear to the eye; wanting in liveliness of color or luster; not vivid; obscure; dim; as, a dull fire or lamp; a dull red or yellow; a dull mirror. 6. Heavy; gross; cloggy; insensible; spiritless; lifeless; inert. ``The dull earth.'' --Shak. As turning the logs will make a dull fire burn, so changes of study a dull brain. -- Longfellow. 7. Furnishing little delight, spirit, or variety; uninteresting; tedious; cheerless; gloomy; melancholy; depressing; as, a dull story or sermon; a dull occupation or period; hence, cloudy; overcast; as, a dull day. Along life's dullest, dreariest walk. -- Keble. Syn: Lifeless; inanimate; dead; stupid; doltish; heavy; sluggish; sleepy; drowsy; gross; cheerless; tedious; irksome; dismal; dreary; clouded; tarnished; obtuse. See {Lifeless}.
\Dull\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Duller}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Dulling}.] 1. To deprive of sharpness of edge or point. ``This . . . dulled their swords.'' --Bacon. Borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. --Shak. 2. To make dull, stupid, or sluggish; to stupefy, as the senses, the feelings, the perceptions, and the like. Those [drugs] she has Will stupefy and dull the sense a while. --Shak. Use and custom have so dulled our eyes. --Trench. 3. To render dim or obscure; to sully; to tarnish. ``Dulls the mirror.'' --Bacon. 4. To deprive of liveliness or activity; to render heavy; to make inert; to depress; to weary; to sadden. Attention of mind . . . wasted or dulled through continuance. --Hooker.
\Dull\, v. i. To become dull or stupid. --Rom. of R.

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