dull

Definitions

1. adjective

   Lacking the ability to cut easily; not sharp.

   Example

   • All these knives are dull.
   ≈blunt≠sharp
2. adjective

   Boring; not exciting or interesting.

   Examples

   • He sat through the dull lecture and barely stayed awake.
   • "You are very dull this morning, Sheriff," said the youngest daughter of the house, who, being the baby and pretty, had grown pettishly privileged in speech.
   ≈banal≈basic≈beat≈blah≈commonplace +43 more
3. adjective

   Not shiny; having a matte finish or no particular luster or brightness.

   Examples

   • Choose a dull finish to hide fingerprints.
   • a dull fire or lamp;  a dull red or yellow;  a dull mirror
   ≈lackluster≈matte≈bland≈colourless≈dim +12 more
4. adjective

   Not bright or intelligent; stupid; having slow understanding.

   Examples

   • She is not bred so dull but she can learn.
   • dull at classical learning
   ≈addlebrained≈addlepated≈airheaded≈bee-brained≈beef-witted +150 more
5. adjective

   Sluggish, listless.

   Examples

   • This people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing.
   • O, help my weak wit and sharpen my dull tongue.
   ≈ponderous≈slothful≈bone-idle≈fainéant≈idle +52 more
6. adjective

   Bored, depressed, down.

   Example

   • I felt dull all day.
   ≈atrabiliary≈atrabilious≈blitheless≈dispirited≈blue +81 more
7. adjective

   Cloudy, overcast.

   Example

   • It's a dull day.
8. adjective

   Insensible; unfeeling.

   Example

   • Think me not / So dull a devil to forget the loss / Of such a matchless wife.
   ≈emotionless≈alexithymic≈apathistical≈clinical≈dull +20 more
9. adjective

   Heavy; lifeless; inert.

   Examples

   • the dull earth
   • c. 1857', Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Table-Talk As turning the logs will make a dull fire burn, so changes of study a dull brain.
   ≈immobile≈abeyant≈at rest≈cessant≈dormant +34 more
10. adjective

    Not intense; felt indistinctly or only slightly.

    Example

    • Pressing on the bruise produces a dull pain.