dull

Adjective

• darkened with overcast
  • a dark day
    
  • a dull sky
    
  • the sky was leaden and thick
    

• not clear and resonant; sounding as if striking with or against something relatively soft
  • the dull thud
    
  • thudding bullets
    

• blunted in responsiveness or sensibility
  • a dull gaze
    
  • so exhausted she was dull to what went on about her- Willa Cather
    

• not having a sharp edge or point
  • the knife was too dull to be of any use
    

• (of business) not active or brisk
  • business is dull (or slow)
    
  • a sluggish market
    

• 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
    

• not keenly felt
  • a dull throbbing
    
  • dull pain
    

• (of color) very low in saturation; highly diluted
  • dull greens and blues
    

• 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
    

• 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
    

• emitting or reflecting very little light
  • a dull glow
    
  • dull silver badly in need of a polish
    
  • a dull sky
    

• 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

• make less lively or vigorous
  • Middle age dulled her appetite for travel
    

• become less interesting or attractive

• make dull or blunt
  • Too much cutting dulls the knife's edge
    

• make numb or insensitive
  • The shock numbed her senses
    

• deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping

• become dull or lusterless in appearance; lose shine or brightness
  • the varnished table top dulled with time
    

• make dull in appearance
  • Age had dulled the surface
    

Related words

• Synonyms: 
  leaden , thudding , slow , sluggish , dense , dim , dumb , obtuse , boring , deadening , ho-hum , irksome , tedious , tiresome , wearisome , muffled , muted , softened , pall , blunt , numb , benumb , muffle , mute , damp , dampen , tone down
• Antonyms: 
  sharp , bright , lively , sharpen