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English Dictionary: dull |
by the
DICT Development Group |
4 results for dull |
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: |
- dull
- 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"
Antonym(s): lively
- emitting or reflecting very little light; "a dull glow"; "dull silver badly in need of a polish"; "a dull sky"
Antonym(s): bright
- 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"
Synonym(s): dull, muffled, muted, softened
- 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"
Synonym(s): boring, deadening, dull, ho-hum, irksome, slow, tedious, tiresome, wearisome
- (of color) very low in saturation; highly diluted; "dull greens and blues"
- not keenly felt; "a dull throbbing"; "dull pain"
Antonym(s): sharp
- 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"
Synonym(s): dense, dim, dull, dumb, obtuse, slow
- (of business) not active or brisk; "business is dull (or slow)"; "a sluggish market"
Synonym(s): dull, slow, sluggish
- not having a sharp edge or point; "the knife was too dull to be of any use"
Antonym(s): sharp
- blunted in responsiveness or sensibility; "a dull gaze"; "so exhausted she was dull to what went on about her"- Willa Cather
- not clear and resonant; sounding as if striking with or against something relatively soft; "the dull thud"; "thudding bullets"
Synonym(s): dull, thudding
- darkened with overcast; "a dark day"; "a dull sky"; "the sky was leaden and thick"
Synonym(s): dull, leaden
- v
- make dull in appearance; "Age had dulled the surface"
- become dull or lusterless in appearance; lose shine or brightness; "the varnished table top dulled with time"
- deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping
Synonym(s): muffle, mute, dull, damp, dampen, tone down
- make numb or insensitive; "The shock numbed her senses"
Synonym(s): numb, benumb, blunt, dull
- make dull or blunt; "Too much cutting dulls the knife's edge"
Synonym(s): dull, blunt Antonym(s): sharpen
- become less interesting or attractive
Synonym(s): pall, dull
- make less lively or vigorous; "Middle age dulled her appetite for travel"
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From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: |
Dull \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. [bd]Dull at classical
learning.[b8] --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.
[bd]Thy scythe is dull.[b8] --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. [bd]The dull earth.[b8] --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}.
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From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: |
Dull \Dull\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Duller}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Dulling}.]
1. To deprive of sharpness of edge or point. [bd]This . . .
dulled their swords.[b8] --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. [bd]Dulls
the mirror.[b8] --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.
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From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: |
Dull \Dull\, v. i.
To become dull or stupid. --Rom. of R.
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No guarantee of accuracy or completeness!
©TU Chemnitz, 2006-2024
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