-) Adjective.
-) Pronunciation: dʌl.
-) Etymology: from Middle English dul.
-) Comparative form: duller. Superlative form: dullest.
-) 1. (Of a person) characterized by dullness or slowness; lacking acuteness or wit, but not so much as to be deemed fool; not prompt to learn, think, invent, etc.; slow of understanding; ineffective for using acutely his intelligence
-) Synonyms for “dull”: stupid, doltish.
-) Antonym: witty.
-) Translation: stupide, in French; estúpido, in Spanish; stupido, in Italian.
Every office has some little mysteries which the dullest man may learn with a little attention, and which the greatest man cannot possibly know by intuition. One paper must be signed by the chief of the department.
Macaulay… Critical and Historical Essays… 1860
How dull of him to misunderstand her!
G. Gissing… Born in Exile… 1892
-) 2. (Of a person or his/her senses) lacking sensibility or intensity of perception.
-) Synonym: blunted.
… she screamed into her grandfather's dull ear.
W. Howells… A Fearful Responsibility… 1881
The Lady Blanche looked at him with the dull eyes of a person who does not understand.
M. Ford… Ladies whose bright eyes… 1911
Tarzan crept stealthily among the branches of the tree above the well-fed, […]. He made no noise that the dull ears of man could hear above the soughing of the gentle jungle breeze among the undulating foliage of the upper terraces…
E. Burroughs… Jungle… 1919
-) With the preposition “of” + noun or verbal noun, to specify the faulty sense:
Thou art dull of ear.
W. Scott… The Talisman… 1825
Captain Scoresby considers these animals extremely dull of hearing: for a noise in the air, such as is produced by a person loudly shouting, is not noticed when only at the distance of a ship's length.
J. Loudon… Natural history… 1832
We can not help thinking that men must have been singularly dull of comprehension, to find a difficulty in admitting what is to us so plain and simple.
J. Mill… A System of Logic… 1843
He could hear a new tone in his own voice when he replied, and was relieved to know the old man dull of perception.
H. Richardson… Australia Felix… 1917
-) 3. (Of a sensation, as pain, etc.) not intense; slightly felt.
… the discomfort then became merely a dull ache.
W. Howells… Indian Summer… 1885
-) 4. (Of a thing, an animal, etc.) slow in motion; not quick in action.
-) Synonyms: inactive, not brisk; sluggish, moped, inactive, slothful.
-) Antonyms: active, quick, cheery, nimble, sprightly, energetic, spry, perk.
So saying, and summing up the whole with a provoking wink, and such an interjectional tchick as men quicken a dull horse with, Petit Andre drew off to the other side of the path, and left the youth to digest the taunts he had treated him with, as his proud Scottish stomach best might.
W. Scott… Quentin Durward… 1823
Now they must plough at a dull pace through the encumbering snow, continually pausing to decide their course, continually floundering in drifts.
R. Stevenson… The Black Arrow… 1888
-) 5. (Of a trade, goods, merchandise, or the like) lacking commercial activity; not much in demand.
-) Synonym: brisk.
Sales were exceedingly dull.
The Farmer's Magazine, vol. 24… 1823
The corn market was dull at prices as before.
The Farmer's Magazine
-) 6. (Of a person) being in no mood for cheerfulness; somewhat melancholic or sad.
-) Synonyms: dismal; dreary.
I felt myself dull and lonely, and was just thinking of you as you knocked at the door.
G. Reynolds… The mysteries of London… 1844
He was dull, except when he drank too much wine, and that, to be sure, was every day at dinner.
Thackeray… The Virginians… 1859
… all that evening he was dull and sorrowful,
M. Braddon… Birds of Prey… 1867
-) 7. (Of a thing) attended with dullness or irksomeness; causing no interest.
-) Synonyms: tedious, uninteresting, uneventful, cheerless; irksome.
-) Antonyms: exhilarating, interesting, eventful.
I have been thinking that this is a dull and lonely place for you.
G. Reynolds… The mysteries of London… 1844
He has the art of writing on dull subjects by no means in a dull style.
The Home and Foreign Review… 1864
I think it was the dullest little place I ever entered; and what with the monotony of an idle sea…
Dickens… The Letters… 1880
Then she and her aunt went into the large, dull library.
W. Howells… The Landlord… 1897
-) 8. (Of a tool, etc.) not sharp or keen; lacking sharpness; not keen in edge or point.
-) Synonyms: blunt, obtuse.
-) Antonyms: edged, sharp.
I had three large axes, and abundance of hatchets […]; but, with much chopping and cutting knotty hard wood, they were all full of notches and dull.
D. Defoe… Robinson Crusoe… 1719
If there is anything more foolish than the custom of some farmers in using ill-shapen, badly-constructed and dull tools, […] we do not what it is.
The Valley Farmer, vol. 4-7
-) 9. (Of a color or a visual quality) -) a. Lacking brilliance. -) b. Lacking luster. -) c. Of little saturation.
-) Synonyms: dim, tarnished.
-) Antonyms: bright, lustrous.
A dull lamp was upon the drawers.
Dublin University Magazine
There was a small dull fire in the grate; and in a comfortable arm-chair near it, was seated the inspector - a short, stout, red-faced, consequential-looking man, with a pen stuck behind his left ear.
Reynolds… The mysteries of London… 1844
This mode may do for large brushes that have to be employed in the dull colours of some kinds of backgrounds.
T. Fielding… Painting… 1846
I was up with the dull dawn, and, having dressed as quietly as I could, looked into his room.
Dickens… Copperfield… 1850
… the style of a dull mind will always be like the reflection of a dull mirror.
Putnam's Monthly, vol. 8… 1853
And I see a watchmaker’s with only three great pale watches of a dull metal hanging in his window, each in a separate pane.
Dickens… Two Idle Apprentices… 1857
Her brown arms were bare and banded with bracelets of some dull metal.
B. M. Bower… The Phantom Herd… 1916
-) 10. (Of an auditive or gustatory quality, sound, taste, etc.) not intense; indistinct.
Suddenly, however, a dull sound arose within a quarter of a mile from the city gate, as of some feeble attempt to blow a blast upon a trumpet.
Quincey… The Masque… 1832
… the dull sound of hammers began to echo through the stillness.
Dickens… Barnaby… 1841
And have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over acuteness of the senses? — now, I say, there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton.
E. Poe… The Tell-Tale… 1843
At this idea I shrieked aloud, but the walls alone returned a dull echo to my cries.
W. Ainsworth… The Lancashire… Witches 1848
-) 11. (Of the weather) not clear or bright; cloudy.
During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens.
E. Poe… The Fall… 1839
-) English words derived from “dull”: dullness, dull (v.), dullard, dullardism, dullardness, dulled, dullify, dulling, dullish, dully (adv.)
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