| dictionary | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
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| ADJECTIVE | 1 | dull | Lacking in liveliness or animation |
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| 2 | dull | Emitting or reflecting very little light | |
| 3 | dull, muffled, muted, softened | Being or made softer or less loud or clear | |
| 4 | dull, boring, deadening, ho-hum, irksome, slow, tedious, tiresome, wearisome | So lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness | |
| 5 | dull | (of color) very low in saturation | |
| 6 | dull | Not keenly felt | |
| 7 | dull, dense, dim, dumb, obtuse, slow | Slow to learn or understand | |
| 8 | dull, slow, sluggish | (of business) not active or brisk | |
| 9 | dull | Not having a sharp edge or point | |
| 10 | dull | Blunted in responsiveness or sensibility | |
| 11 | dull, thudding | Not clear and resonant | |
| 12 | dull, gray, grey, leaden | Darkened with overcast | |
| VERB | 1 | dull | Make dull in appearance |
| 2 | dull | Become dull or lusterless in appearance | |
| 3 | dull, muffle, mute, damp, dampen, tone down | Deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping | |
| 4 | dull, numb, benumb, blunt | Make numb or insensitive | |
| 5 | dull, blunt | Make dull or blunt | |
| 6 | dull, pall | Become less interesting or attractive | |
| 7 | dull | Make less lively or vigorous |
| Sounds | dah'l |
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| Rhymes | abdominal, Abel, able, and 2059 more rhymes in ahl at the HyperDic website... |
| Meaning | Lacking in liveliness or animation. |
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| Examples | "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" |
| Attribute of | dullness, dulness |
| Similar | arid, desiccate, desiccated; bovine; drab, dreary; heavy, leaden; humdrum, monotonous; lackluster, lacklustre, lusterless, lustreless |
| See also | unanimated; colorless, colourless; spiritless |
| Contrary | lively |
| Adverbs | dully |
| Meaning | Emitting or reflecting very little light. |
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| Examples | "a dull glow"; "dull silver badly in need of a polish"; "a dull sky" |
| Attribute of | luminosity, brightness, brightness level, luminance, luminousness, light |
| Similar | flat, mat, matt, matte, matted; lackluster, lacklustre, lusterless, lustreless |
| See also | unpolished |
| Contrary | bright |
| Adverbs | dully |
| Meaning | Being or made softer or less loud or clear. |
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| Examples | "the dull boom of distant breaking waves" |
| Synonyms | muffled, muted, softened |
| Similar to | soft |
| Meaning | So lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness. |
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| Examples | "a dull play"; "his competent but dull performance" |
| Synonyms | boring, deadening, ho-hum, irksome, slow, tedious, tiresome, wearisome |
| Similar to | uninteresting |
| Meaning | (of color) very low in saturation. Highly diluted. |
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| Examples | "dull greens and blues" |
| Similar to | unsaturated |
| Meaning | Not keenly felt. |
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| Examples | "a dull throbbing"; "dull pain" |
| Similar | deadened |
| Contrary | sharp |
| Meaning | Slow to learn or understand. Lacking intellectual acuity. |
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| Examples | "although dull at classical learning, at mathematics he was uncommonly quick"- Thackeray |
| Synonyms | dense, dim, dumb, obtuse, slow |
| Similar to | stupid |
| Meaning | (of business) not active or brisk. |
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| Examples | "business is dull (or slow)" |
| Synonyms | slow, sluggish |
| Category | commercial enterprise, business enterprise, business |
| Similar to | inactive |
| Meaning | Not having a sharp edge or point. |
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| Examples | "the knife was too dull to be of any use" |
| Similar | blunt; blunted, dulled; edgeless; unsharpened |
| Contrary | sharp |
| Meaning | Blunted in responsiveness or sensibility. |
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| Examples | "a dull gaze"; "so exhausted she was dull to what went on about her"- Willa Cather |
| Similar to | insensitive |
| Meaning | Not clear and resonant. Sounding as if striking with or against something relatively soft. |
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| Examples | "the dull thud" |
| Synonyms | thudding |
| Similar to | unreverberant, nonresonant |
| Meaning | Darkened with overcast. |
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| Examples | "a dull sky" |
| Synonyms | gray, grey, leaden |
| Similar to | cloudy |
| Meaning | Make dull in appearance. |
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| Pattern | Somebody ----s something; Something ----s something |
| Examples | "Age had dulled the surface" |
| Broader | change, alter, modify |
| Meaning | Become dull or lusterless in appearance. Lose shine or brightness. |
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| Pattern | Something ----s |
| Examples | "the varnished table top dulled with time" |
| Broader | change |
| Meaning | Deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping. |
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| Pattern | Somebody ----s something; Something ----s something |
| Synonyms | muffle, mute, damp, dampen, tone down |
| Broader | soften |
| Meaning | Make numb or insensitive. |
|---|---|
| Pattern | Somebody ----s something; Somebody ----s somebody; Something ----s somebody |
| Synonyms | numb, benumb, blunt |
| Broader | desensitize, desensitise |
| Meaning | Make dull or blunt. |
|---|---|
| Pattern | Somebody ----s something; Something ----s something |
| Examples | "Too much cutting dulls the knife's edge" |
| Synonyms | blunt |
| Broader | change, alter, modify |
| Contrary | sharpen |
| Meaning | Become less interesting or attractive. |
|---|---|
| Pattern | Something ----s |
| Synonyms | pall |
| Broader | change |
| Nouns | dullard |
| Meaning | Make less lively or vigorous. |
|---|---|
| Pattern | Somebody ----s something; Something ----s something |
| Examples | "Middle age dulled her appetite for travel" |
| Narrower | cloud |
| Broader | weaken |