dull

verbs

make dull in appearance

"Age had dulled the surface"

dull

is a type of (narrower)

cause to change; make different; cause a transformation

"The advent of the automobile may have altered the growth pattern of the city"; "The discussion has changed my thinking about the issue"

alter, change, modify

become dull or lusterless in appearance; lose shine or brightness

"the varnished table top dulled with time"

dull

is a type of (narrower)

undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature

"She changed completely as she grew older"; "The weather changed last night"

change

deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping

damp, dampen, dull, muffle, mute, tone down

make numb or insensitive

"The shock numbed her senses"

benumb, blunt, dull, numb

make dull or blunt

"Too much cutting dulls the knife's edge"

blunt, dull

antonym

sharpen

become less interesting or attractive

dull, pall

is derived from

dullard

make less lively or vigorous

"Middle age dulled her appetite for travel"

dull

is a type of (narrower)

become weaker

"The prisoner's resistance weakened after seven days"

weaken

adjectives

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"

dull

is derived from

dullness

antonym

lively

is similar to

lacking vitality or spirit; lifeless

"a technically perfect but arid performance of the sonata"; "a desiccate romance"; "a prissy and emotionless creature...settles into a mold of desiccated snobbery"-C.J.Rolo

arid, desiccate, desiccated

is similar to

dull and slow-moving and stolid; like an ox

"showed a bovine apathy"

bovine

is similar to

lacking in liveliness or charm or surprise

"her drab personality"; "life was drab compared with the more exciting life style overseas"; "a series of dreary dinner parties"

drab, dreary

is similar to

lacking lightness or liveliness

"heavy humor"; "a leaden conversation"

heavy, leaden

is similar to

tediously repetitious or lacking in variety

"a humdrum existence; all work and no play"; "nothing is so monotonous as the sea"

humdrum, monotonous

is similar to

lacking brilliance or vitality

"a dull lackluster life"; "a lusterless performance"

lackluster, lacklustre, lusterless, lustreless

see also

not animated or enlivened; dull

unanimated

see also

lacking in variety and interest

"a colorless and unimaginative person"; "a colorless description of the parade"

colorless, colourless

see also

lacking ardor or vigor or energy

"a spiritless reply to criticism"

spiritless

is an attribute of

the quality of lacking interestingness

"the stories were of a dullness to bring a buffalo to its knees"

dullness

emitting or reflecting very little light

"a dull glow"; "dull silver badly in need of a polish"; "a dull sky"

dull

is derived from

dullness

antonym

bright

is similar to

not reflecting light; not glossy

"flat wall paint"; "a photograph with a matte finish"

flat, mat, matt, matte, matted

is similar to

lacking luster or shine

"staring with lackluster eyes"; "lusterless hair"

lackluster, lacklustre, lusterless, lustreless

is similar to

not brilliant or glaring

"the moon cast soft shadows"; "soft pastel colors"; "subdued lighting"

soft, subdued

see also

not carefully reworked or perfected or made smooth by polishing

"dull unpolished shoes"

unpolished

is an attribute of

the quality of being luminous; emitting or reflecting light

"its luminosity is measured relative to that of our sun"

brightness, brightness level, light, luminance, luminosity, luminousness

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"

dull, 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"

boring, deadening, dull, ho-hum, irksome, slow, tedious, tiresome, wearisome

is derived from

dullness

(of color) very low in saturation; highly diluted

"dull greens and blues"

dull

is derived from

dullness

is similar to

(of color) not chromatically pure; diluted

"an unsaturated red"

unsaturated

not keenly felt

"a dull throbbing"; "dull pain"

dull

is derived from

dullness

antonym

sharp

is similar to

made or become less intense

"the deadened pangs of hunger"

deadened

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"

dense, dim, dull, dumb, obtuse, slow

is derived from

dullness

(of business) not active or brisk

"business is dull (or slow)"; "a sluggish market"

dull, slow, sluggish

not having a sharp edge or point

"the knife was too dull to be of any use"

dull

is derived from

dullness

antonym