Meaning & Definition of Dull in English

1. Make dull in appearance

• "Age had dulled the surface"

2. Become dull or lusterless in appearance

• Lose shine or brightness

• "The varnished table top dulled with time"

3. Deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping

4. Make numb or insensitive

• "The shock numbed her senses"

5. Make dull or blunt

• "Too much cutting dulls the knife's edge"

6. Become less interesting or attractive

7. Make less lively or vigorous

• "Middle age dulled her appetite for travel"

1. 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"

2. Emitting or reflecting very little light

• "A dull glow"

• "Dull silver badly in need of a polish"

• "A dull sky"

3. 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"

4. 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"

5. (of color) very low in saturation

• Highly diluted

• "Dull greens and blues"

6. Not keenly felt

• "A dull throbbing"

• "Dull pain"

7. 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"

8. (of business) not active or brisk

• "Business is dull (or slow)"

• "A sluggish market"

9. Not having a sharp edge or point

• "The knife was too dull to be of any use"

10. Blunted in responsiveness or sensibility

• "A dull gaze"

• "So exhausted she was dull to what went on about her"- willa cather

11. Not clear and resonant

• Sounding as if striking with or against something relatively soft

• "The dull thud"

• "Thudding bullets"

12. Darkened with overcast

• "A dark day"

• "A dull sky"

• "The sky was leaden and thick"