HyperDic: dull

English > 19 senses of the word *dull*:
ADJECTIVE	all	dull	lacking in liveliness or animation
	all	dull	emitting or reflecting very little light
	all	dull, muffled, muted, softened	being or made softer or less loud or clear
	all	dull, boring, deadening, ho-hum, irksome, slow, tedious, tiresome, wearisome	so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness
	all	dull	(of color) very low in saturation
	all	dull	not keenly felt
	all	dull, dense, dim, dumb, obtuse, slow	slow to learn or understand
	all	dull, slow, sluggish	(of business) not active or brisk
	all	dull	not having a sharp edge or point
	all	dull	blunted in responsiveness or sensibility
	all	dull, thudding	not clear and resonant
	all	dull, leaden	darkened with overcast
VERB	contact	dull	make dull in appearance
	change	dull	become dull or lusterless in appearance
	perception	dull, muffle, mute, damp, dampen, tone down	deaden (a sound or noise) , especially by wrapping
	perception	dull, numb, benumb, blunt	make numb or insensitive
	contact	dull, blunt	make dull or blunt
	change	dull, pall	become less interesting or attractive
	change	dull	make less lively or vigorous

dull > pronunciation
Sounds	dah'l
Rhymes	abdominal ... zoological: 2115 rhymes with ahl...

English > *dull*: 19 senses > adjective 1
Meaning	lacking in liveliness or animation.
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	The quality of lacking interestingness
Narrower	arid, desiccate, desiccated	lacking vitality or spirit
	bovine	dull and slow-moving and stolid
	drab, dreary	lacking in liveliness or charm or surprise
	heavy, leaden	lacking lightness or liveliness
	humdrum, monotonous	tediously repetitious or lacking in variety
	lackluster, lacklustre, lusterless, lustreless	lacking brilliance or vitality
See also	colorless, colourless	lacking in variety and interest
	spiritless	lacking ardor or vigor or energy
	unanimated	not animated or enlivened
Opposite	lively	full of life and energy
Spanish	apagado, soso
Nouns	dullness	the quality of lacking interestingness
Adverbs	dully	without liveliness

English > *dull*: 19 senses > adjective 2
Meaning	emitting or reflecting very little light.
Examples	"a dull glow" "dull silver badly in need of a polish" "a dull sky"
Attribute of	luminosity, brightness, brightness level, luminance, luminousness, light	The quality of being luminous
Narrower	flat, mat, matt, matte, matted	not reflecting light
	lackluster, lacklustre, lusterless, lustreless	lacking luster or shine
	soft, subdued	not brilliant or glaring
See also	unpolished	not carefully reworked or perfected or made smooth by polishing
Opposite	bright	emitting or reflecting light readily or in large amounts
Spanish	apagado
Catalan	apagat
Nouns	dullness	a lack of visual brightness
Adverbs	dully	without luster or shine

English > *dull*: 19 senses > adjective 3
Meaning	Being or made softer or less loud or clear.
Example	"the dull boom of distant breaking waves"
Synonyms	muffled, muted, softened
Broader	soft	(of sound) relatively low in volume
Spanish	apagado, sordo

English > *dull*: 19 senses > adjective 4
Meaning	So lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness.
Examples	"a dull play" "his competent but dull performance"
Synonyms	boring, deadening, ho-hum, irksome, slow, tedious, tiresome, wearisome
Broader	uninteresting	Arousing no interest or attention or curiosity or excitement
Spanish	aburrido, agobiante, cargante, gris, latoso, monótono, pesado, tedioso
Catalan	avorrit, carregós, empipador, gris, molest, monòton, pesat, tediós
Nouns	dullness	the quality of lacking interestingness

English > *dull*: 19 senses > adjective 5
Meaning	(of color) very low in saturation; highly diluted.
Example	"dull greens and blues"
Broader	unsaturated	(of color) not chromatically pure
Nouns	dullness	a lack of visual brightness

English > *dull*: 19 senses > adjective 6
Meaning	not keenly felt.
Examples	"a dull throbbing" "dull pain"
Narrower	deadened	made or become less intense
Opposite	sharp	keenly and painfully felt
Nouns	dullness	lack of sensibility

English > *dull*: 19 senses > adjective 7
Meaning	Slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity.
Example	"although dull at classical learning, at mathematics he was uncommonly quick"- Thackeray
Synonyms	dense, dim, dumb, obtuse, slow
Broader	stupid	lacking or marked by lack of intellectual acuity
Spanish	corto, estúpido, lento, obtuso, pasmado, tonto, torpe
Catalan	aturat, curt, estúpid, gamarús, lent, obtús, pallús
Nouns	dullness	the quality of being slow to understand

English > *dull*: 19 senses > adjective 8
Meaning	(of business) not active or brisk.
Example	"business is dull (or slow)"
Synonyms	slow, sluggish
Category	commercial enterprise, business enterprise, business	The activity of providing goods and services involving financial and commercial and industrial aspects
Broader	inactive	lacking activity
Spanish	apagado, apocado, lento
Catalan	apagat, apocat

English > *dull*: 19 senses > adjective 9
Meaning	not having a sharp edge or point.
Example	"the knife was too dull to be of any use"
Narrower	blunt	Used of a knife or other blade
	blunted, dulled	made dull or blunt
	edgeless	lacking a cutting edge
	unsharpened	not sharpened / sharpened
Opposite	sharp	Having or made by a thin edge or sharp point
Spanish	desafilado, embotado, romo, sordo
Catalan	rom, sord
Nouns	dullness	without sharpness or clearness of edge or point

English > *dull*: 19 senses > adjective 10
Meaning	blunted in responsiveness or sensibility.
Examples	"a dull gaze" "so exhausted she was dull to what went on about her"- Willa Cather
Broader	insensitive	Deficient in human sensibility
Nouns	dullness	lack of sensibility

English > *dull*: 19 senses > adjective 11
Meaning	not clear and resonant; sounding as if striking with or against something relatively soft.
Example	"the dull thud"
Synonym	thudding
Broader	unreverberant, nonresonant	not reverberant

English > *dull*: 19 senses > adjective 12
Meaning	darkened with overcast.
Example	"a dull sky"
Synonym	leaden
Broader	cloudy	Full of or covered with clouds
Spanish	gris, pesado, plomizo, taciturno
Catalan	gris, pesat, plomís, taciturn
Nouns	dullness	a lack of visual brightness

English > *dull*: 19 senses > verb 1, contact
Meaning	make dull in appearance.
Pattern	Somebody ----s something; Something ----s something
Example	"Age had dulled the surface"
Broader	change, alter, modify	Cause to change
Spanish	arromar, deslucir, deslustrar
Catalan	deslluir, esmussar

English > *dull*: 19 senses > verb 2, change
Meaning	Become dull or lusterless in appearance; lose shine or brightness.
Pattern	Something ----s
Example	"the varnished table top dulled with time"
Broader	change	Undergo a change
Spanish	amortiguar
Catalan	apagar, desllustrar

English > *dull*: 19 senses > verb 3, perception
Meaning	deaden (a sound or noise) , especially by wrapping.
Pattern	Somebody ----s something; Something ----s something
Synonyms	muffle, mute, damp, dampen, tone down
Broader	soften	make (images or sounds) soft or softer
Spanish	amortiguar, arromar, despuntar
Catalan	deslluir-se, deslluir, despuntar, esmussar, espuntar, romejar, trencar-se

English > *dull*: 19 senses > verb 4, perception
Meaning	make numb or insensitive.
Pattern	Somebody ----s something; Somebody ----s somebody; Something ----s somebody
Synonyms	numb, benumb, blunt
Broader	desensitize, desensitise	Cause not to be sensitive
Spanish	adormecer
Catalan	adormir

English > *dull*: 19 senses > verb 5, contact
Meaning	make dull or blunt.
Pattern	Somebody ----s something; Something ----s something
Example	"Too much cutting dulls the knife's edge"
Synonym	blunt
Broader	change, alter, modify	Cause to change
Opposite	sharpen	make sharp / sharp / sharp / sharp or sharper / sharper / sharper / sharper
Spanish	arromar, desafilar, deslucir, despuntar, embotarse, embotar
Catalan	despuntar, esmussar-se, esmussar, espuntar, romejar

English > *dull*: 19 senses > verb 6, change
Meaning	Become less interesting or attractive.
Pattern	Something ----s
Synonym	pall
Broader	change	Undergo a change
Nouns	dullard	a person who evokes boredom

English > *dull*: 19 senses > verb 7, change
Meaning	make less lively or vigorous.
Pattern	Somebody ----s something; Something ----s something
Example	"Middle age dulled her appetite for travel"
Narrower	cloud	make milky or dull
Broader	weaken	Become weaker
Spanish	atemperar
Catalan	moderar, temperar

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