dull
Americanadjective
-
not sharp; blunt.
a dull knife.
-
causing boredom; tedious; uninteresting.
a dull sermon.
- Antonyms:
- interesting
-
not lively or spirited; listless.
-
not bright, intense, or clear; dim.
a dull day; a dull sound.
-
having very little depth of color; lacking in richness or intensity of color.
-
slow in motion or action; not brisk; sluggish.
a dull day in the stock market.
-
mentally slow; lacking brightness of mind; somewhat stupid; obtuse.
- Synonyms:
- stolid, unintelligent, unimaginative
- Antonyms:
- bright
-
lacking keenness of perception in the senses or feelings; insensible; unfeeling.
-
not intense or acute.
a dull pain.
verb (used with or without object)
-
to make or become dull.
- Synonyms:
- benumb, deaden, blunt, discourage, dishearten, depress
adjective
-
slow to think or understand; stupid
-
lacking in interest
-
lacking in perception or the ability to respond; insensitive
-
lacking sharpness; blunt
-
not acute, intense, or piercing
-
(of weather) not bright or clear; cloudy
-
not active, busy, or brisk
-
lacking in spirit or animation; listless
-
(of colour) lacking brilliance or brightness; sombre
-
not loud or clear; muffled
-
med (of sound elicited by percussion, esp of the chest) not resonant
verb
-
to make or become dull
More idioms and phrases containing dull
Related Words
Dull, blunt refer to the edge or point of an instrument, tool, or the like. Dull implies a lack or a loss of keenness or sharpness: a dull razor or saw. Blunt may mean the same or may refer to an edge or point not intended to be keen or sharp: a blunt or stub pen; a blunt foil. Dull, blunt, slow, stupid are applied to mental qualities. Dull implies obtuseness, lack of imagination: a dull child. Blunt implies loss of original keenness of intelligence through disease, sad experience, or the like: His critical faculties were blunt. Slow applies to a sluggish intellect: a slow mind. Stupid implies slowness of mental processes, but also lack of intelligence, wisdom, prudence, etc.: a stupid person.
Other Word Forms
- dullish adjective
- dullness noun
- dully adverb
- dulness noun
- undulled adjective
Etymology
Origin of dull
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English; akin to Old English dol “foolish, stupid”; cognate with German toll
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This fealty to a handful of characters would continue throughout his career, but the result is that the whole of his output feels dull in comparison to his individual works.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026
"When you make a book," he once said, "it's like making a hand grenade. It's a dull process but when you throw it the person at the other end gets the effect."
From BBC • Mar. 17, 2026
“There will never be a dull moment,” Musselman said in May.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 2, 2026
Hughes’ script supplies Andie with a fount of vivacious wit and self-assurance, which is what makes watching her dull her shine as the film progresses so confounding.
From Salon • Feb. 28, 2026
This is not as hard work as pounding the obelisk with dolerite, but it is still hard, dull work.
From "The (Mostly) True Story of Cleopatra's Needle" by Dan Gutman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.