Dull

Definition: Dull

Dull

Adjective

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"; "thumping feet on the carpeted stairs".

12. : darkened with overcast; "a dark day"; "a dull sky"; "a gray rainy afternoon"; "gray clouds"; "the sky was leaden and thick".

Verb

1. Make dull in appearance; "Age had dulled the surface".

2. Become dull or lusterless in appearance; lose shine or brightness, as of a varnished surface.

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

4. Make numb or insensitive; "The shock numbed her senses".

5. Make dull or blunt, as of sharp edges or knives' blades.

6. Become less interesting or attractive.

7. Make less lively or vigorous; "Middle age dulled her appetite for travel".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "dull" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1258. (references)

Note: Dull \Dull\, adjective. [Comparative Duller; superlative Dullest.]. (Websters 1913)

Food & Agriculture

Mining

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Synonyms: Dull

Bluntness

Verb: be blunt, render blunt; Adjective: obtund, dull; take off the point, take off the edge; turn.

Adjective: blunt, obtuse, dull, bluff; edentate, toothless.

Dejection

Dreary, flat; dull, dull as a beetle, dull as ditchwater; depressing; Verb:

Depress; discourage, dishearten; dispirit; damp, dull, deject, lower, sink, dash, knock down, unman, prostrate, break one's heart; frown upon; cast a gloom, cast a shade on; sadden; damp one's hopes, dash one's hopes, wither one's hopes; weigh on the mind, lie heavy on the mind, prey on the mind, weigh on the spirits, lie heavy on the spirits, prey on the spirits; damp the spirits, depress the spirits.

Feebleness

Adjective: feeble, bald, tame, meager, jejune, vapid, bland, trashy, lukewarm, cold, frigid, poor, dull, dry, languid; colorless, enervated; proposing, prosy, prosaic; unvaried, monotonous, weak, washy, wishy-washy; sketchy, slight.

Imbecility Folly

Shallow, borne, weak, wanting, soft, sappy, spoony; dull, dull as a beetle; stupid, heavy, insulse, obtuse, blunt, stolid, doltish; asinine; inapt; prosaic; hebetudinous.

Inactivity

Indolent, lazy, slothful, idle, lusk, remiss, slack, inert, torpid, sluggish, otiose, languid, supine, heavy, dull, leaden, lumpish; exanimate, soulless; listless; drony, dronish; lazy as Ludlam's dog.

Insensibility

Apathetic; leuco-, phlegmatic; dull, frigid; cold blooded, cold hearted; cold as charity; flat, maudlin, obtuse, inert, supine, sluggish, torpid, torpedinous, torporific; sleepy; (inactive); languid, half-hearted, tame; numbed; comatose; anaesthetic; stupefied, chloroformed, drugged, stoned; palsy-stricken.

Moderation

Moderate, soften, mitigate, temper, accoy; attemper, contemper; mollify, lenify, dulcify, dull, take off the edge, blunt, obtund, sheathe, subdue, chasten; sober down, tone down, smooth down; weaken; lessen; (decrease); check palliate.

Physical Inertness

Adjective: inert, inactive, passive; torpid; sluggish, dull, heavy, flat, slack, tame, slow, blunt; unreactive; lifeless, dead, uninfluential.

Physical Insensibility

Adjective: insensible, unfeeling, senseless, impercipient, callous, thick-skinned, pachydermatous; hard, hardened; case hardened; proof, obtuse, dull; anaesthetic; comatose, paralytic, palsied, numb, dead.

Simplicity

Bald, flat, dull.

Weakness

Languid, poor, infirm; faint, faintish; sickly; (disease); dull, slack, evanid, spent, short-winded, effete; weather-beaten; decayed, rotten, worn, seedy, languishing, wasted, washy, laid low, pulled down, the worse for wear.

Weariness

Adjective: wearying; Verb: wearing; wearisome, tiresome, irksome; uninteresting, stupid, bald, devoid of interest, dry, monotonous, dull, arid, tedious, humdrum, mortal, flat; prosy, prosing; slow, soporific, somniferous.

Crosswords: Dull

Manx (stopper), Welsh (form, manner, mode).

Classes will dull your mind. (A Beautiful Mind; writing credit: Akiva Goldsman)

I suppose it's a good thing to be uncomplicated, but it does sound rather dull. (Brief Encounter; writing credit: David Lean, written by Noel Coward, Anthony Havelock-Allan, David Lean, and Ronald Neame.)

Confess, don't be boring, say yes, don't be dull, a fact you're ignoring, it's better to lose your skull cap than your skull. (History of the World Part 1; writing credit: Mel Brooks)

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy! (The Shining; writing credit: Stanley Kubrick)

How safe, how tranquil and how dull. (Name der Rose, Der; writing credit: Andrew Birkin; Gérard Brach)

You were just too damn dull for me. (Love You Down; performing artist: INOJ)

You meet at certain dismal dull affairs. (19TH NERVOUS BREAKDOWN; performing artist: The Rolling Stones)

Would brighten an otherwise dull afternoon. (In Old Mexico; performing artist: Tom Lehrer)

War talk by men who have been in a war is always interesting; whereas moon talk by a poet who has not been in the moon is likely to be dull. (references; author: Mark Twain)

A sharp tongue and a dull mind are usually found in the same head. (references; author: unknown)

Never a Dull Moment (1968)

Begone Dull Care (1949)

Never a Dull Moment (1943)

Dull Care (1919)

The Dull Razor (1902)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Books

• 101 Things to Do During a Dull Sermon (reference)

• Army Relations With Congress: Thick Armor, Dull Sword, Slow Horse (reference)

• Biker Billy's Freeway-A-Fire Cookbook: Life's Too Short to Eat Dull Food (reference)

• Generalization of Bright and Dull Children: A Comparative Study With Special Reference to Spelling (reference)

• Holidays for Dull Days: Fun Cross Curricular Thematic Activities (reference)

  (more book examples)

Music

• Dull Bang, Gushing Sound, Human Shriek (reference)

  (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

The dull patch in a victim's eye shows where the parasitic worm ... has caused irreparable damage. / WHO p. Credit: National Library of Medicine; photo by D. Deriaz..

About 100 miles away from Hawaii, while en route to Oahu with other amphibious ships to participate in exercise "Dull Knife", July 1963. Three other attack transports are also in the formation. USS Renville (APA-227) is closest to Talladega, and USS Bayfield (APA-33) is next. Credit: NAVY.

He at once takes a perpendicular drop and lands upon a hard bottom of dull routine and doldrums. Credit: Library of Congress.

Passing away a dull hour - Geisha girls dancing, Japan. Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

He spoke before the bell had sounded, which it now did with a deep, dull, hollow, melancholy ONE.

Well, said Reg, "it's been an interesting time recently, or rather, a dull time.

The page of life that was spread out before me seemed dull and commonplace, only because I had not fathomed its deeper import.

The business had always been dull in consequence of the high price of the raw material, which reacted upon the manufacture.

His soul was still disquieted and cast down by the dull phenomenon of Dublin.

The square closes up and the dancing starts, feet on the bare ground, beating dull, strike with your heels.

It is not all books that are as dull as their readers.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Health

What it feels like � sharp, dull, throbbing, steady. (references)

It can range from a dull, annoying ache to absolute agony. (references)

The dull pain can be temporary or persistent, mild or severe. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Dull observer

Expressions using "dull": as dull as ditchwater ♦ be dull ♦ become dull ♦ business is dull ♦ deadly dull ♦ deadly dull and boring ♦ drive dull care away ♦ dull affair ♦ dull and lifeless ♦ dull as a beetle ♦ dull as ink ♦ dull color ♦ dull colour ♦ dull fellow ♦ dull of hearing ♦ dull one's senses ♦ dull smb.'s mind ♦ dull sober somber subfusc ♦ dull stick ♦ dull work ♦ extremely dull ♦ feel dull ♦ insufferably dull ♦ make dull ♦ pewit dull ♦ the dull season. Additional references.

Beginning with "dull": Dull-brained, Dull-browed, dull-coloured, dull-dark, dull-dust, Dull-eyed, dull-faced, dull-faceted, dull-green, dull-headed, dull-hued, dull-looking, dull-plumaged, dull-pointed, dull-red, Dull-sighted, dull-sounding, dull-straw, dull-toned, Dull-witted.

Ending with "dull": ash-dull, bright-dull, maze-dull, mindbendingly-dull, useful-but-dull.

Afrikaans

afstomp (become dull, blunt). (various references)

Albanian

dobësoj (attenuate, debilitate, depauperate, depress, devitalize, dilute, dim, diminish, emaciate, emasculate, enervate, enfeeble, impair, reduce, use up, weaken), i topitur (blunt, dopey, dopy, listless, obtuse, torpid, unpointed), e mpirë, e shurdhër, i avashtë (slow, sluggish, tardy), i heq shkëlqimin, i lodhshëm (arduous, irksome, laborious, long winded, pernickety, tedious, tiresome, toilsome, troublesome, trying, wearing, wearisome), i mërzitshëm (annoying, boring, bothersome, corny, dead alive, depressing, dissatisfactory, dreary, dry, fatiguing, fierce, pesky, plaguesome, pragmatical, slow, tedious, tiresome, weariful, wearisome, weary), i ngathët (angular, atonic, awkward, clumsy, cubbish, dawdler, dead, dead alive, dullish, footless, gauche, gawky, ham-fisted, heavy, heavy-handed, hulking, inept, laggard, languid, left handed, lubberly, lumbering, lymphatic, maladroit, oafish, pedestrian, poky, quick, shiftless, slack, torpid, ungainly, unhandy, unmoved, unready, unwieldy, wooden), i plogët (apathetic, apathetical, clumsy, idle, indolent, inert, lackadaisical, slack, slothful, supine), zbeh (dim, lighten, pale), i turbullt (blank, cloudy, dim, dimmish, dreamy, dusky, feculent, foggy, indistinct, lax, misty, muddy, obscure, shadowy, thick, turbid, turbulent, vague, woozy), jo i mprehtë (grave, mild), lehtësoj (allay, alleviate, assuage, attenuate, calm, enable, extenuate, facilitate, lighten, mitigate, palliate, relax, release, relieve, shake, soften, solace, soothe), mpij (benumb, blunt, cramp, drowse, numb, stupefy), pa gjallëri (in expressive, lacklustre), tarallak (buzzard, dull fellow, idiot, simpleton, stupid), teveqel (dolt, dummy, fool, foolish, imbecile, innocent, noodle, simpleton, zany, zombie), topit (blunt, disconcert, stupefy), i ngrirë (congealed, freezing, frost-bound, frosted, frozen, glace, glassy, lame, numb, prim, starchy, stiff, stilted). (various references)

Arabic 

‏فاتر (apathetic, chilly, cold, cool, disinterested, dispassionate, frigid, half hearted, indifferent, languid, listless, lukewarm, slack, spiritless, stagnant, tepid, unenthusiastic, unfriendly), ‏كليل (blunt), ‏كسول (idle, inactive, indolent, inert, languid, languorous, lazy, lethargic, lumpish, passive, shiftless, slothful, slow, sluggard, sluggardly, sluggish, supine), ‏ممل (boring, dreary, humdrum, irksome, iterative, monotonous, mundane, ponderous, slow, stodgy, tedious, tiresome, troublesome, uninteresting, vapid, weariful, wearisome, weary), ‏متبلد الحس (dullish, stolid), ‏مضجر (annoying, boring, dim, humdrum, irksome, iterative, pest, ponderous, prosy, slow, tedious, tiresome, uninteresting, vapid, weariful, wearisome, weary), ‏غير واضح (cloudy, foggy, fuzziness, fuzzy, inconspicuous, indefinite, indistinct, nebulous, unclear, vague), ‏غائم (blear, bleary, clouded over, cloudy, filmy, fuzzy, hazy, nebulous, woolly), ‏غبي (asinine, dense, dick, dim witted, drip, dullard, empty headed, fathead, jerk, lacking, lunatic, moronic, opaque, patsy, plonker, sap, slow witted, soppy, stupid, thick, thick-headed, thickish, thick-witted, tomfool, twerp, uncivil, unintelligent, wooden), ‏عتم (blackout, cloud, darken, dip, obfuscate, obscure, overcast, overshadow), ‏جعله متبلد الحس, ‏بليد (bovine, dim, doltish, dopey, inanimate, lethargic, light minded, lumpish, obtuse, passive, silly, sleepy, slow, slow moving, sluggish, stupid, thick-headed, torpid, unworkable), ‏باهت (dim, faint, indistinct, lank, pale, pallid, wan, washed out). (various references)

Bulgarian 

скучен (arid, dead alive, drear, dryasdust, dumb, dusty, heartbreaking, heavy, humdrum, insipid, jejune, jogtrot, long, long winded, long-spun, moldy, monotonous, mouldy, mousey, plodding, pokey, ponderous, prosaic, prosy, slow, soggy, stodgy, stuffy, tedious, uninspired, uninteresting, unvaried, vapid, weariful, wearisome), тъжен (bleak, cheerless, desolate, disconsolate, dismal, distressed, doleful, dusky, elegiac, gloomy, heavy, joyless, lonesome, lugubrious, melancholy, minor, mirthless, mournful, pensive, plaintive, sad, sick, sickly, sorrowful, tristful, wan, wistful, woebegone, woeful), тъп (asinine, blunt, bovine, cloddish, crass, dense, dim, dim witted, dopey, dopy, dumb, gross, hollow, impenetrable, lumpish, muddle-headed, obtuse, opaque, puddingy, purblind, slow, sodden, stupid, thick, thick-headed, thick-witted, torpid, unpointed, wooden-headed), губя блясъка си (wane), мъртъв (cold, dead, extinct, lifeless, low, set), мъглив (brumous, damp, foggy, hazy, misty, nebulous, thick, vaporous, vapory, vapoury), мъждукащ (blinking), матов (dead, dim, lustreless, mat, muddy, opaque), затъпявам (rust, stupefy, turn), заглушавам (black out, deaden, deafen, drown, intercept, jam, jam out, kill, obstruct, overgrow, silence), замъглявам (bedim, befog, blur, dim, film, fog, muddy, skim), бавносхващащ, притъпявам (sear, stupefy), потъмнял (dark, dim, discolored, discoloured, lacklustre, tarnished), помрачавам (alloy, bedim, cloud, darken, dim, dusk, eclipse, nip, obfuscate, obscure, overshadow, shade, shadow, trouble). (various references)

Chinese 

索然 (dry), 愚�'�, 板滯 (stiff), 乾燥 (arid, dry). (various references)

Czech

monotónní (humdrum, monotonous), bezduchý (empty, nerveless, spiritless), chmurný (dismal, drear, dreary, gloomy, Gray, grey, grim), fádní (bloodless, drab, dreary, featureless, flat, Gray, grey, humdrum, jejune, tame, tasteless, tiresome), hloupý (awkward, brainless, cretinous, daft, empty headed, fatuous, fat-witted, foolish, half-witted, inane, lame brain, logy, mutton-headed, silly, soft-brained, spoony, stupid, thick, thickskulled), jednotvárný (drab, featureless, humdrum, jejune, monotonous, trivial, uneventful, uniform, unrelieved), kalný (bleary, cloudy, dim, murky, thick, turbid), šedivý (ashy-gray, glaucous, gray haired, grey, grey haired, hoary, iron-grey, lifeless, miserable), mdlý (faint, flat, languid, pale, sapless, sick, sickly, torpid, vapid, wan, watery), zasmušilý (gloomy, grave, spleenful, subdued, sullen), mrtvý (dead, dead man, lifeless, unemployed), nevýrazný (drab, featureless, Gray, grey, laconic, nerveless, nondescript, poverty stricken, uninspired), nezáživný (dry, stodgy, wearisome), nudný (boring, dreary, humdrum, jejune, prosy, slow, stuffy, tedious, tiresome), pošmourný (dreary), tìžkopádný (clumsy, cumbersome, cumbrous, ham-fisted, ham-handed, heavy, heavy going, heavy-handed, inarticulate, lumpish, unwieldy), tupý (blunt, brutish, cloddish, dense, dozy, empty headed, indocile, mindful, obtuse, pointless, stolid, stupid, thickheaded, torpid, vacant, vacuous), matný (dim, frosted, lacklustre, opaque, vague). (various references)

Danish

stump (blunt, obtuse). (various references)

Dutch

stomp (blunt, obtuse), simpel (simple, straightforward, stupid), onnozel (guiltless, innocent, insignificant, minor, naïf, naïve, naif, stupid, trifling), flauw (stupid), dom (addled, cathedral, foolish, obtuse, stupid, stupidly), dof (obtuse). (various references)

Esperanto

senverva (lifeless, stodgy), obtuza (obtuse), malsprita (stupid), brutigi. (various references)

Faeroese

ótýðiligur (obtuse), ógreiður (indistinct, obtuse). (various references)

Farsi 

متاثر (Regretful, Sorry), کندکردن (Blunt, Clog, Letup, Rebate, Sheath, Sheathe, Slacken), کند (Ballast, Blunt, Dilatory, Haunt, Heavy, Late, Lazy, Leaden, Slack, Slow, Sluggish, Tardy, Unapt, Unready), کودن (Backward, Birdbrain, Cockeyed, Crass, Doddering, Dunce, Lug, Sappy, Slight, Slow, Unapt, Unintelligent), گرفته (Eerie, Gruff, Hoarse, Muggy, Pokey, Set, Solemn, Thick), راکد (Inert, Resting, Stagnant, Still). (various references)

Finnish

tylsä (blunt, dull-edged, inert, obtuse), himmeä (dim, lustreless, matt, obscure, tarnished). (various references)

French

terne, obtus, mat (dusky). (various references)

German

stumpf (blunt, bluntly, dulled, flat, lackluster, lacklustre, lusterless, lustreless, masculine, obtuse, pointless, snub, stolid, stolidly, stub, stump, stupid, toneless, truncated, turned-up), matt (checkmate, cloudy, dead, dim, faint, feeble, flat, frosted, jaded, lame, languid, languidly, limp, mat, mate, opal, opaque, Pearl, slack, subdued, tired, vapid, wan, wanly, weak, weary), trübe (bleak, blear, blearly, bleary, cheerless, cloudy, dark, dim, dimly, dismal, drab, dreary, filmy, gloomy, grey, grim, indistinct, lackluster, lacklustre, misty, muddy, murky, somberly, turbid), stumpfsinnig (humdrum, jaded, mindless, monotonous, obtuse, obtusely, stupid, tedious), glanzlos (dim, flat, lackluster, lusterless, lustreless, mat, mate), dumm (addled, asinine, blockish, brainless, dully, dumb, fatuous, foolish, footling, ignorant, imbecile, imbecilic, inane, inanely, oafish, obtuse, purblindly, silly, stupid, stupidly, thick, thumb, unintelligent). (various references)

Greek 

μάτ (dullness, matt), ματ (checkmate, riot police), πληκτικόσ (drab, humdrum, prolix, sententious, uninteresting), ηλίθιοσ (booby, clot, cretin, dopey, dumb, fool, gawky, goofy, goon, idiot, idiotic, imbecile, mooncalf, moronic, nitwit, poky, sap-head, sheepish, sottish, stupid, thick), ανιαρόσ (borer, boring, drab, irksome, prosaic, prosaical, prosy, stodgy, tedious, uninteresting, wearisome, weary), αμβλύσ (blunt, flat, obtuse, pointless), αμβλύνω (attenuate, blunt, soft pedal), αποβλακώ, θαμπός (dim, dusty). (various references)

Hebrew 

מוק�"�" (blunt, notched), משעמם (boring, drab, dry, humdrum, logy, monotonous, mundane, tedious, tiresome, uneventful), לעמם (dim, fade), ל�"ק�"ות (blunt, deaden), קש�" תפיס�" (purblind, slow witted, thickwitted), ק�"�" (blunt, obtuse, set on edge, sour), אטום אויר, אטום (caulking, impenetrable, impermeable, opaque, sealed, sealing, shut, solid), כ�"�" (dark, deep, dim, faint, obscure), כב�" (burdensome, difficult, hard, heavy, leaden, massive, weighty). (various references)

Hungarian

tompa (blunt, dim, have a blunt edge, hollow, lustreless, matt, muffled, obscure, obtuse, pastel shades, thick-headed). (various references)

Indonesian

tumpul (blunt, obtuse (of angles), stupid), sabak (pouting, slate for school, sulking), mada (feebleminded, stupid), kelam (dark, dim (of eyesight), obscure, overcast), guram (chicken flea, dim, hazy, insignificant), buram (blueprint, dark, gloomy, not clear, plan, sketch, unregistered), bodoh (dumb, fool, hare-brained, idiot, obtuse, wooden-headed). (various references)

Irish

marbhphian (dull pain). (various references)

Italian

spuntato (blunt, obtuse), smussato (blunt, obtuse), opaco (Matt, opacity, opaque). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

緩慢 (slow, sluggish). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

きょくのない (uninteresting), ふかっぱつ (inactive, lethargic, quiet, slow, sluggish), のろい (a charm, a curse, slow, stupid, thickheaded), ど�" (coveting, dull-brained, slow, stupid), にぶい (slow, stupid, thickheaded), か�"ま�" (ebb and flow, slow, sluggish), むしゅみ (lacking taste or flair), むみ (lacking taste), とろい (slow, stupid), � るい (feel heavy, languid, sluggish). (various references)

Korean 

�"한. (various references)

Manx

neughloassey, mooghey (blank off, blot out, blow out, choking, damp, drown, expire, extinction, extinguish, gulp back, hold back, hush up, jam, quench, shut off, stamp out, stifle, suppress, switch off, turn off), moal (backward, belated, decrepit, deliberate, deplorable, dim, disappointing, enfeebled, feeble, flimsy, gradual, ill, laggard, late, late of fruit, listless, meagre, overdue, pithless, poor, poorly, scraggy, slack, slow, sorry, tardy, tawdry, unimpressive, weak, weak as faith, wretched, wretched of thing), marroo (aground; deceased estate, assassinate, bag game; dead, bag; dead, butcher, deceased, defunct, departed, dispatch, dud, dull of pain, exterminate, extinct; extermination, flat, flat mood, flat spot, glassy, glassy as look, inanimate, kill, kill off, killed, killing, lifeless, liquidate, liquidation, mortified, muggy, murder, slaughter, slaughtered, slaughtering, slay, slaying, sleeping, stagnant), jannoo moandagh, dromm (drowsy, torpid), dree (boring, drab, dreary, humdrum, painful, tedious). (various references)

Norwegian

trist (bleak, dismal, drab, dreary, gaunt, miserable, sad, somber, sullen), treg (indolent, inert, languid), sløv (blunt, languid), matt (dim, faint), kjedelig (boring, drag, dreary, humdrum, stodgy, tiresome). (various references)

Pig Latin

ullday

Portuguese

estúpido (addle-brained, addled, ass, blockhead, blockish, blunderer, blunderhead, boeotian, booby, bovine, chuckle-head, chump, crass, dense, dim-witted, dolt, dumb, dunce, dunderhead, fat-head, fatuous, featherbrained, fool, foolish, goofy, jolterhead, lubber, lubber-head, lubberly, lumpish, mindless, mutton-head, mutton-headed, numskull, oafish, obtuse, pigheaded, silly, slow, stock, stupe, stupid, thick-headed, thick-skulled, thick-witted, unintelligent, vacuous), embrutecer, baço (brown, dim, dingy, ill humor, ill humour, lacklustre, lustreless, swarthy, tarnished). (various references)

Romanian

indiferent (all one, all the same, anywhere, apathetic, apathetical, careless, chill, cool, impassive, indifferent, indifferently, inhuman, insensible, insensitive, lackadaisical, languid, listless, nonchalant, numb, perfunctory, phlegmatic, pococurante, reckless, remiss, slack, slow, sluggish, stolid, unconcerned, unimportant, unmoved), neinteresant (arid, dry, dusty, flat, jejune, languorous, uneventful), nedesluşit (indefinite, indistinct, indistinctly, loose, obscure), neclar (blind, cloudy, confused, dark, darkly, difficult, diffuse, dim, feeble, foggy, gloomily, hazy, inarticulate, indistinct, inexplicit, lax, muddy, obscurely, vague, vaguely), neascuţit, monoton (bald, dead, ding-dong, drab, flat, humdrum, inanimate, monotonous, monotonously, same, singsong, slow, tame, uneventful), moleşit (drooping, drowsy, enervate, flabby, flaccid, tired, weak), mohorât (bleak, blue, cheerless, dark, dismal, downcast, dreary, dun, gloomy, grave, Gray, grey, lowering, overcast, sad), mocnit (dark, gloomy, reticent, smoldering, smouldering, taciturn), mat (dead, lustreless, mat, mate, opaque), lipsit de strãlucire (unpretending), leneş (bum, easeful, easy going, idle, Idler, idly, lazily, lazy, lazybones, loafer, loiterer, otiose, shiftless, slothful, sluggard, sluggish, torpid, truant, vacant), încet (at a slow pace, dawdling, dead alive, deliberate, dilatory, dull-headed, easy, faint, gentle, hist, lagging, lazily, lazy, leasurely, leisurely, lingering, low, slack, slow, slow but steady, slowly, sluggish, soft, still, tardy, time-taking, weak), inert (inactive, inanimate, indifferent, inert, inertly, lazy, nerveless, passive, sluggish), obscur (abstruse, cloudy, confused, dark, darksome, dim, entangled, foggy, gloomy, indistinct, murk, obscure, obscurely, recondite, tenebrous, unknown, unnoticed), greoi (artless, bearish, elephantine, gawky, heavy, hulking, lubberly, lumpish, massy, ponderous, slow, stodgy, stolid, ungainly, ungraceful, unwieldy, weighty), fãrã luciu (lustreless), cernit (black, blackened, clouded, cloudy, dark, darkened, dim, dusky, gloomy, sad, somber, sombre, sullen), ceţos (brumous, dim, filmy, foggy, hazy, misty, nebulous, vague, vaporous), bont (blunt, chippy, crippled), şters (colorless, colourless, dim, dingy, Gray, grey, low-pitched, pale, sad, wan, washy, wiped, wiping), şterge (abrade, annex, annihilate, annul, blot out, bunk, cancel, clean, cop, crib, decamp, deface, delete, dim, do a bunk, dry, efface, erase, expunge, filch, guy, make away, make off, mop, obliterate, pack off, pack one's traps, pop off, quit, raze, remove, scratch, shrink away, strike out, sweep, vanish, wipe), atenua (abate, alleviate, attenuate, dilute, diminish, extenuate, gloze, mellow, reduce, soften, subdue, subjugate, tone down, water down), anost (flat, flavorless, flavourless, ineffectual, tedious, vapid), amorţi (benumb, numb, sleep, stiffen, stupefy), întunecat (black, blear, blind, clouded, cloudy, dark, darkish, darksome, deep, dismal, dusky, fuliginous, fuscous, gloomy, glum, inky, lowering, muddy, murk, obscurely, opaque, sad, saturnine, somber, sombre, tenebrous), îndobitoci, insensibil (callous, cold-hearted, dead, hard-hearted, immune, imperceptible, impervious, indolent, insensate, insensible, insensitive, insusceptible, irresponsive, obdurate, unfeeling), se atenua (abate, soften), trist (bleak, blue, cheerless, dark, darkish, depressing, dispirited, doleful, dolefully, dolorous, downcast, drab, dreary, dumpish, elegiac, glum, joyless, lamenting, maudlin, melancholy, miserable, mournful, mournfully, pensive, pensively, rueful, sad, sadly, sorrowful, splenetic, sullen, tough, unfortunate, unhappy, woebegone, woeful), tocit (blunt, chippy, edgeless, hackneyed, overwrought, worn out), toci (benumb, blunt, con, cram, cram up, fret, grind, hack, mug, plug, rebate, take the edge off, wear), teşi (bevel, cant), tâmpit (addle, addle-brained, asshole, awfully, blunt, brain-hampered, chucklehead, clod, crass, daft, dense, dim, donkey, Dotty, duffer, dumb, dumb bell, fiddling, fool, idiot, imbecile, jay, lubber-head, lunkhead, motherfucker, mutt, piffling, pillock, sap, shitass, squarehead, stupid, sucker), tâmpi (addle, besot, blunt, flabbergast, flummox, hebetate, stupefy), surd (deaf, hidden, hollow, secret, sharp, smothered, unvoiced), sumbru (black, cloudy, dark, dismal, dreary, dusky, fuscous, gloomy, overcast, shadowy, somber, sombre), stupid (doltish, dull-witted, foolish, foolishly, Goosey, idiotic, idiotical, idle, inane, inept, insipid, mindless, senseless, silly, stupid, stupidly, wooden-headed), spãlãcit (colorless, colourless, dim, pale, wan, washed out, washy), slab (adynamic, angular, bad, cold, cranky, crazy, dicky, dim, Dotty, faint, faintly, feckless, feeble, feebly, female, flabby, flaccid, flat, fleshless, flimsy, footless, forceless, frail, gaunt, groggy, helpless, impotent, inner, jaded, jejune, languid, languishing, languorous, lax, lean, Lenten, light, loose, low, meager, meagre, mean, mild, milk and water, namby-pamby, nerveless, one horse, pale, peaked, penny-a-line, pimping, poor, poorly, powerless, quiet, remotely, rickety, scraggy, scrawny, shaky, sickly, silly, skinny, slack, slight, small, soft, sorry, spare, squeal, stringent, tender, thin, washy, weak, weakly), slãbi (abate, attenuate, Bate, crock, debilitate, depauperate, diminish, drain, droop, ease, emaciate, emasculate, enfeeble, extenuate, fade, fail, flag, go down, grow weak, impair, languish, let, loosen, lose flesh, lose weight, macerate, mine, peak and pine, pinch, pull down, reduce, relax, sap, sink, slack, slacken, slenderize, slim, soften, subdue, subside, take the edge off, thin, undermine, weaken), nelucios, se posomorî, nesimţitor (casehardened, insensate, insusceptible, obdurate, unfeeling), se întuneca (cloud up, darken, darkle, get dark, glower, grow dark, lour, scowl), prosti (bamboozle, besot, chaff, chouse, dupe, fool, make a fool of, stultify, stupefy), prost (ass, bad, badly, beef-witted, blinkard, blockhead, blunt, booby, calf, cheap, clumsy, cock eyed, common, dead, dolt, doltish, donkey, dullard, dumb, dunce, dunderhead, flat, fool, foolish, good for nothing, goof, goon, goose, Goosey, gull, harmful, idiot, idiotish, inhospitable, lousy, lubber-head, miserable, nincompoop, ninny, nitwit, nitwitted, noddy, noodle, numskull, numskulled, oaf, oafish, pin head, poor, poorly, silly, simple, simpleton, snipe, soft, soft-headed, sorry, spoony, stupid, thoughtless, unfavorable, unfavourable, wretched, zombie), potoli (becalm, compromise, dulcify, hush, lighten, lull, mollify, quench, quiet, reassure, relieve, slack, slake, smooth, smooth down, sober, solace, stay, still, subdue, suppress, sweeten, temper, tranquillize), posomorî (gloom, overcast), posomorât (beetle, cheerless, dark, dismal, gloomily, gloomy, jaw-fallen, melancholy, mopish, overcast, somber, sombre), plictisitor (boring, boringly, dead, dreadful, dry, dully, flat, heavy, irksome, jejune, languorous, long winded, long-spun, monotonous, monotonously, pedestrian, pesky, pestersome, pestiferous, repetitious, repetitive, sententious, slow, tedious, tediously, tiresome, trying, weary). (various references)

Russian 

тусклый (blear, bleary, dim, dingy, faint, fishy, glazy, lackluster, lacklustre, mat, muddy, obscure, pale, sad, sunless, wan). (various references)

Scottish

dùr (dour, obstinate, stubborn), trosdail, amhlair (boor, fool, stupid person), amh (crude, lifeless, raw, unsodden). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

zatupiti (blunt), ublažiti (alleviate, attemper, become tempered, buff, cushion, ease, lessen, mince, mitigate, moderate, mollify, palliate, redeem, soft pedal, soften, soothe, temper, tone down), tup (blank, blunt, cloddish, hebetate, obtuse, stolid), suvoparan (dry), glup (anserine, asinine, brainless, calvish, cloddish, dense, dozy, dumb, fat-witted, jerk, obtuse, sheepish, silly, stupid, unintelligent), bezizrazan (blank, deadpan, fishy, glassy, glazy, unmeaning). (various references)

Spanish

embotado (blunt, obtuse, thickheaded), obtuso (blunt, obtuse), mate (checkmate, dummy, gourd, mat, mate, Matt, matted). (various references)

Swedish

matt (depressed, dim, dusty, faint, faintly, feeble, flat, frosted, jaded, lacklustre, languid, lustreless, mat, tame, weak, wishy washy), trög (blockish, flat, inactive, inert, languid, languorous, lifeless, lumpish, obtuse, plodding, purblind, slow, slowcoach, sluggish, soggy, stick in the mud, stolid, tardy, unapt), tråkig (boring, disagreable, drab, dusty, humdrum, irksome, jejune, pedestrian, prosy, tedious, tiresome, uninteresting, unpleasant, vapid), slö (bovine, drowsy, fat-witted, fishy, indolent, inert, languid, languorous, lazy, lethargic, obtuse, sappy, slack, stagnant, supine), dov (aching, hallow, hollow, muffled, obtuse, stifled), andefattig (barren, inane, vacant, vacuous, vapid, wooden). (various references)

Thai

โง่ (brainless, dipstick, dizzy, dumb, foolish, lumpish, muddle-headed, nerdy, oafish, silly, simple, simple-minded, stockish, thick, thickheaded, thick-witted), น่าเบื่อ (arid, banal, boring, humdrum, jejune, tasteless, tired), ทำให้ชา (numb), ทำให้ทื่อ, ทำให้กระตือรือร้นล�"ลง, ทำให้หมอง, ทื่อ (obtuse), มัว (dim, opaque). (various references)

Turkish

donuk (blear, blurred, clouded, colourless, dead, diaphanous, dim, dullish, frosty, glassy, inanimate, mat, Matt, opaque, toneless), donuklaştırmak (bedim, deaden, dim, fog, scumble), duygularını köreltmek, duygusuz (apathetic, apathetical, as cold as charity, bloodless, blunt, callous, coldhearted, conscience-proof, devoid of feelings, frigid, hard-hearted, impassible, insensate, insensitive, marble, matter of fact, numb, obtuse, phlegmatic, phlegmatical, senseless, soulless, steel, stolid, stony, unemotional, unfeeling, unmoved), mat (checkmate, darkish, lackluster, lacklustre, mat, mate, Matt, opaque, sober), fersiz (lackluster, lacklustre, lusterless), kör (blind, blind as a bat, blunt, disused, mole-eyed, not sharp, obtuse, sightless, stone blind, unseeing, unsighted), köreltmek (atrophy, blunt, damp, damp down, dampen, rust), ağır (arduous, back breaking, badly, bovine, burdensome, contemptuous, cumbersome, cumbrous, deep, deliberate, dignified, drudging, fabian, foul, grave, grievous, hard, harsh, heavily, heavy, hefty, indigestible, languid, lazy, lumbering, massive, measured, muzzy, not fast, onerous, oppressive, plodding, ponderous, repressive, rich, scorching, scornful, serious, serious minded, seriously, severe, severely, sharp, slack, slashing, slow, slow moving, slowly, sluggish, smashing, stodgy, strenuous, strong, swingeing, toilful, toilsome, unwholesome, unwieldy, weighty), kalın kafalı (bonehead, bone-headed, chucklehead, dense, dim, fat-headed, mutton head, numskull, obtuse, slow on the uptake, slow witted, thick, thickheaded, thick-headed, thickskulled, thickwitted, wooden, woodenheaded), uyuşturmak (anaesthetize, benumb, drug, lull, narcotize, numb, stupefy), renksiz (colorless, colourless, opaque, pale, sallow, uncolored, uncoloured, unstained, wishywashy), ruhsuz (dead alive, impassive, inanimate, soulless, spiritless, stagnant, wooden), sıkıcı (arid, bald, boring, burdensome, constringent, cut and dried, damnable, dead alive, disconcerting, ditch water, ditchwater, drab, dry, dryasdust, dusty, gaunt, gloomy, grave, grotty, humdrum, inanimate, insipid, irksome, oppressive, poky, ponderous, prose, prosy, slow, sluggish, soul-destroying, soulless, stodgy, stuffy, tedious, tiresome, trying, uncongenial, unexeciting, unpleasant, unreadable, unsensational, vapid, waste, watery, wearisome), sersem (addle-brained, addle-headed, addle-pated, clod, dizzy, dope, dozy, dullard, foggy, foolish, giddy, gunsel, happy, light-headed, muddleheaded, muzzy, nincompoop, ninny, nitwit, oaf, oafish, opaque, scatterbrain, scatterbrained, scatty, sheepish, silly, slob, stupid, woozy), sersemletmek (bemuse, bewilder, daze, dizzy, fuddle, hocus, make dizzy, make giddy, send smb. reeling, stun, stupefy), soluk (ashy, breath, breathing, cadaverous, colorless, colourless, exhalation, faded, faint, pale, pallid, pasty, sallow, sick, sickly, wan, washy, watery), tatsız (arid, chippy, disagreeable, distasteful, dusty, flat, flavorless, flavourless, frail, insipid, milk and water, objectionable, queasy, savorless, savourless, sticky, tame, tasteless, ugly, unamusing, uncomfortable, uncongenial, ungracious, unpalatable, unpleasant, unsweetened, unwelcome, vapid, watery), kütleştirmek. (various references)

Turkmen 

яitigsi (dead, dim), цзьgsi (matt), цзgьn (matted), kьteltmek (blunt), kьtek (blunt), gamaюyk (cloudy, hazy). (various references)

Ukrainian

стомлювати (fag, fatigue, gruel, irk, tire, try, wear, weary), тьмяніти (darkle, dim, glaze, glaze over, pale, tarnish, wan), тьмяний (crepuscular, dim, dingy, glaucous, glazed, glazy, lacklustre, obscure, opaque, sad, wan, waterish), тупий (asleep, bat-eyed, blockish, blunt, dense, dim witted, doughy, logy, obtuse, opaque, oscitant, pointless, slow witted, wooden, wooden-headed), неповорткий, притупляти (benumb, damp, deaden, narcotize, opiate, quench, rebate, rust), пригнічений (damp, dead alive, dejected, despondent, downward, heavy-laden, low-spirited, vapourish, woebegone, woeful, woesome), похмурий (adust, bleak, cheerless, dark, darksome, despondent, disconsolate, dismal, drear, dreary, dusky, frowning, gash, gaunt, ghastly, gloomy, glum, grave, gruff, hard-faced, inhospitable, lowering, macabre, mopish, mournful, murk, nightly, obscure, overcast, sable, saturnine, sepulchral, shadowy, stygian, sullen, surly, tenebrous). (various references)

Vietnamese 

chậm hiểu (heavy, inapprehensive), âm ỉ thẫn thờ, âm u (murky, nebulous), ế đều đều, ảm đạm (black, drear, dreary, howling, mournful, stygian), bán không chạy, bu�"n nản tối tăm, bu�"n tẻ (dead-alive, drab, dryasdust, dully, heavy, humdrum, inanimate, jogtrot, ponderous, tame, toneless, waste), đần độn không tinh, chán ngắt (dullness, dully, dulness, long-winded, mouldy, pedestrian, prosaic, tedious, wearied, weary), xỉn (dingy, dully, lustreless, mat), mờ đục (opaque), ngu đần (beef-witted, boeotian, dense, doltish, dully, mutton-headed, nitwitted, stupid, witless), tối dạ (unintelligent), tẻ ngắt (insipid, pedestrian), trì chậm, u ám (gloomy, heavy, murky, overcast, tenebrous), uể oải (bloodless, cup, languid, languishing, slack, slothful), xám xịt cảm thấy lờ mờ, cảm thấy không rõ rệt. (various references)

Welsh

dwl (foolish, stupid), twp (obtuse, stupid), pylu (blunt), pw+l (blear, blunt, dim, obtuse), mud (dumb, mute), hwyrdrwm (drowsy, sluggish). (various references)

bardus, brutus, frigida, frigidae, frigidam, frigidus, obtusi, obtusus, piger, piger pigra pigrum, pigri, pigrorum, pigrum, pingue, pinguem, pingues, pingui, pinguia, pinguibus, pinguis, pinguissima, pinguissimae, pinguissimo, pinguissimum, pinguissimus, pinguium, plumbeam, stolidus, surdus, tardus. (various references)

dol. (various references)

log. (various references)

dul. (various references)

mat. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Derivations

Words beginning with "dull": dullard, dullards, dulled, duller, dullest, dulling, dullish, dullishly, dullness, dullnesses, dulls, dullsville, dullsvilles, dully. (additional references)

Words containing "dull": medulla, medullae, medullar, medullary, medullas, medullated, medulloblastoma, medulloblastomas, medulloblastomata, undulled. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Dull" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: aull, dall, Dduallt, delcl, dhl, diul, dll, dlum, dol, dolh, dolv, doul, Dsubl, dubl, duell, duil, dul, dula, duld, duli, dulk, dulle, dulm, dult, dupl, Duul, dyl, dyll, dylle, eull, euyll, Odulf, Udl. (additional references)