dull
adjective
1. lacking in liveliness or animation
- he was so dull at parties
- a dull political campaign
- a large dull impassive man
Similar word(s): unanimated, colorless, colourless, arid, desiccate, desiccated, bovine, drab, dreary, heavy, leaden, humdrum, monotonous, lackluster, lacklustre, lusterless, lustreless, spiritless
2. emitting or reflecting very little light
- a dull glow
- dull silver badly in need of a polish
Similar word(s): flat, mat, matt, matte, matted, lackluster, lacklustre, lusterless, lustreless, soft, subdued, unpolished
3. being or made softer or less loud or clear
- the dull boom of distant breaking waves
Similar word(s): soft, muffled, muted, softened
4. so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness
- a dull play
- his competent but dull performance
Similar word(s): uninteresting, boring, deadening, irksome, slow, tedious, tiresome, wearisome
5. (of color) very low in saturation; highly diluted
- dull greens and blues
Similar word(s): unsaturated
6. not keenly felt
- a dull throbbing
- dull pain
Similar word(s): deadened
7. slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity
- although dull at classical learning, at mathematics he was uncommonly quick
Similar word(s): stupid, dense, dim, dumb, obtuse, slow
8. (of business) not active or brisk
- business is dull (or slow)
Similar word(s): inactive, slow, sluggish
9. not having a sharp edge or point
- the knife was too dull to be of any use
Similar word(s): blunt, blunted, dulled, edgeless, unsharpened
10. blunted in responsiveness or sensibility
- a dull gaze
- so exhausted she was dull to what went on about her
Similar word(s): insensitive
11. not clear and resonant; sounding as if striking with or against something relatively soft
- the dull thud
Similar word(s): nonresonant, unreverberant, thudding
12. darkened with overcast
- a dull sky
Similar word(s): cloudy, leaden
Sentences with dull as an adjective:
- All these knives are dull.
- He sat through the dull lecture and barely stayed awake.
- When does having a dull personality ever get you a girlfriend? Even if you get one, how does being dull help you keep a relationship for over a year?
- Choose a dull finish to hide fingerprints.
- a dull fire or lamp; a dull red or yellow; a dull mirror
- It's a dull day.
- Pressing on the bruise produces a dull pain.
verb
1. make dull in appearance
- Age had dulled the surface
Definition categories: contact, alter, change, modify
2. become dull or lusterless in appearance; lose shine or brightness
- the varnished table top dulled with time
Definition categories: change
3. deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping
Similar word(s): damp, dampen, muffle, mute
Definition categories: perception, soften
4. make numb or insensitive
Similar word(s): benumb, blunt, numb
Definition categories: perception, desensitise, desensitize
5. make dull or blunt
- Too much cutting dulls the knife's edge
Similar word(s): blunt
Definition categories: contact, alter, change, modify
6. become less interesting or attractive
Similar word(s): pall
Definition categories: change
7. make less lively or vigorous
- Middle age dulled her appetite for travel
Definition categories: change, weaken
Sentences with dull as a verb:
- Years of misuse have dulled the tools.
- He drinks to dull the pain.
- A razor will dull with use.