Dull - Definition

adj 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" [ant: lively]
2: emitting or reflecting very little light; "a dull glow";
"dull silver badly in need of a polish"; "a dull sky" [ant:
bright]
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" [syn: dull, muffled,
muted, softened]
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" [syn: boring, deadening,
dull, ho-hum, irksome, slow, tedious, tiresome,
wearisome]
5: (of color) very low in saturation; highly diluted; "dull
greens and blues"
6: not keenly felt; "a dull throbbing"; "dull pain" [ant:
sharp]
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" [syn: dense, dim, dull, dumb,
obtuse, slow]
8: (of business) not active or brisk; "business is dull (or
slow)"; "a sluggish market" [syn: dull, slow, sluggish]
9: not having a sharp edge or point; "the knife was too dull to
be of any use" [ant: sharp]
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" [syn: dull, thudding]
12: darkened with overcast; "a dark day"; "a dull sky"; "the sky
was leaden and thick" [syn: dull, leaden]
v 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 [syn:
muffle, mute, dull, damp, dampen, tone down]
4: make numb or insensitive; "The shock numbed her senses" [syn:
numb, benumb, blunt, dull]
5: make dull or blunt; "Too much cutting dulls the knife's edge"
[syn: dull, blunt] [ant: sharpen]
6: become less interesting or attractive [syn: pall, dull]
7: make less lively or vigorous; "Middle age dulled her appetite
for travel"