dull

/dʌl/
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Thân thiện
dull

The sky was a dull gray before the rain.

Definition

  1. Adjective:

    • Lacking brightness, vividness, or sheen: Describes something that is not bright, shiny, or intense in color or light.
    • Not sharp or pointed: Describes an edge or point that is blunted.
    • Lacking interest or excitement: Describes something that is boring, tedious, or monotonous.
    • Slow to understand or perceive: Describes a person who is not quick or sharp in intellect.
    • Not intense or keen: Describes a sensation, such as pain or sound, that is muted or not acute.
    • Not active or brisk: Describes a period of low activity, especially in business or trade.

  2. Verb:

    • To make or become less sharp: To cause an edge or point to lose its sharpness.
    • To make or become less intense, bright, or lively: To reduce the intensity, vividness, or vigor of something.
    • To make or become less sensitive: To cause a reduction in physical or emotional sensitivity.
Examples of Usage

  • Adjective:

    • The room was painted a dull grey.
    • Be careful with that dull knife; it won't cut well.
    • I found the lecture to be incredibly dull.
    • He was a kind man, but often considered dull in conversation.
    • She felt a dull ache in her back.
    • The market has been dull this quarter.

  • Verb:

    • Chopping on a glass board will dull your best knives.
    • Time had dulled the vibrant colors of the old poster.
    • The medication helped to dull the pain.
Advanced Usage

  • "Dull the senses": To make someone less alert or sensitive.

    • The monotonous routine dulled his senses to the beauty around him.

  • "Dull as dishwater" (Idiomatic): Extremely boring or uninteresting.

    • The meeting was as dull as dishwater.

  • "Dull roar": A low, continuous, and muffled noise.

    • The crowd's excitement had subsided to a dull roar.
Variants and Related Words
  • Dullness (n): The state or quality of being dull.
    • The dullness of the metal indicated it needed polishing.
  • Dully (adv): In a dull manner.
    • He stared dully out the window.
Synonyms
  • Adjective: Dim, drab, boring, tedious, blunt, sluggish, muted.
  • Verb: Blunt, dampen, diminish, deaden, muffle.
Related Phrasal Verbs

(Note: "Dull" is not commonly used in phrasal verb constructions. Its meanings are typically expressed through the verb itself or with adverbs.)

Related Idioms
  • Never a dull moment: Used to say that a situation is always exciting or full of activity.
    • With three young children in the house, there's never a dull moment.
  • Dull the edge of: To reduce the intensity or effectiveness of something.
    • Familiarity can dull the edge of fear.
dull

The sky was a dull gray before the rain.

Adjective
  1. darkened with overcast
    • a dark day
    • a dull sky
    • the sky was leaden and thick
  2. not clear and resonant; sounding as if striking with or against something relatively soft
    • the dull thud
    • thudding bullets
  3. blunted in responsiveness or sensibility
    • a dull gaze
    • so exhausted she was dull to what went on about her- Willa Cather
  4. not having a sharp edge or point
    • the knife was too dull to be of any use
  5. (of business) not active or brisk
    • business is dull (or slow)
    • a sluggish market
  6. slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity
    • so dense he never understands anything I say to him
    • never met anyone quite so dim
    • although dull at classical learning, at mathematics he was uncommonly quick- Thackeray
    • dumb officials make some really dumb decisions
    • he was either normally stupid or being deliberately obtuse
    • worked with the slow students
  7. not keenly felt
    • a dull throbbing
    • dull pain
  8. (of color) very low in saturation; highly diluted
    • dull greens and blues
  9. so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness
    • a boring evening with uninteresting people
    • the deadening effect of some routine tasks
    • a dull play
    • his competent but dull performance
    • a ho-hum speaker who couldn't capture their attention
    • what an irksome task the writing of long letters is- Edmund Burke
    • tedious days on the train
    • the tiresome chirping of a cricket- Mark Twain
    • other people's dreams are dreadfully wearisome
  10. being or made softer or less loud or clear
    • the dull boom of distant breaking waves
    • muffled drums
    • the muffled noises of the street
    • muted trumpets
  11. emitting or reflecting very little light
    • a dull glow
    • dull silver badly in need of a polish
    • a dull sky
  12. lacking in liveliness or animation
    • 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
Verb
  1. make less lively or vigorous
    • Middle age dulled her appetite for travel
  2. become less interesting or attractive
  3. make dull or blunt
    • Too much cutting dulls the knife's edge
  4. make numb or insensitive
    • The shock numbed her senses
  5. deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping
  6. become dull or lusterless in appearance; lose shine or brightness
    • the varnished table top dulled with time
  7. make dull in appearance
    • Age had dulled the surface

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