dull

/dˈʌl/ · 1 syllable

Meaning

adjective

lacking in liveliness or animation
“he was so dull at parties”
emitting or reflecting very little light
“a dull glow”
being or made softer or less loud or clear
“the dull boom of distant breaking waves”
so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness- Edmund Burke- Mark Twain
“a boring evening with uninteresting people”
(of color) very low in saturation; highly diluted
“dull greens and blues”
not keenly felt
“a dull throbbing”
slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity- Thackeray
“so dense he never understands anything I say to him”
(of business) not active or brisk
“business is dull (or slow)”
not having a sharp edge or point
“the knife was too dull to be of any use”
blunted in responsiveness or sensibility- Willa Cather
“a dull gaze”
not clear and resonant; sounding as if striking with or against something relatively soft
“the dull thud”
darkened with overcast
“a dark day”

verb

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
make numb or insensitive
“The shock numbed her senses”
make dull or blunt
“Too much cutting dulls the knife's edge”
become less interesting or attractive
make less lively or vigorous
“Middle age dulled her appetite for travel”

Developers: get definitions, synonyms, antonyms, rhymes and pronunciation for 147,000 words as JSON with the English Dictionary API (free trial).