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Definition of 'dull' Verb
- make dull in appearance; "Age had dulled the surface"
- become dull or lusterless in appearance; lose shine or brightness; "the varnished table top dulled with time"
- deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping
Synonyms: muffle mute damp dampen tone down - make numb or insensitive; "The shock numbed her senses"
Synonyms: numb benumb blunt - make dull or blunt; "Too much cutting dulls the knife's edge"
Synonyms: blunt
Antonyms: sharpen - become less interesting or attractive
Synonyms: pall - make less lively or vigorous; "Middle age dulled her appetite for travel"
Adjective
- 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"
Antonyms: lively - emitting or reflecting very little light; "a dull glow"; "dull silver badly in need of a polish"; "a dull sky"
Antonyms: bright - 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"
Synonyms: muffled muted softened - 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"
Synonyms: boring deadening ho-hum irksome slow tedious tiresome wearisome - (of color) very low in saturation; highly diluted; "dull greens and blues"
- not keenly felt; "a dull throbbing"; "dull pain"
Antonyms: sharp - 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"
Synonyms: dense dim dumb obtuse slow - (of business) not active or brisk; "business is dull (or slow)"; "a sluggish market"
Synonyms: slow sluggish - not having a sharp edge or point; "the knife was too dull to be of any use"
Antonyms: sharp - blunted in responsiveness or sensibility; "a dull gaze"; "so exhausted she was dull to what went on about her"- Willa Cather
- not clear and resonant; sounding as if striking with or against something relatively soft; "the dull thud"; "thudding bullets"
Synonyms: thudding - darkened with overcast; "a dark day"; "a dull sky"; "a grey rainy afternoon"; "grey clouds"; "the sky was leaden and thick"
Synonyms: grey gray leaden
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