dull

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The vehicle was described as a dull-green 1998 Ford Ranger with a Kentucky license plate.

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Definitions (52)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (12)

  1. adjective Intellectually weak or obtuse; stupid.
  2. adjective Lacking responsiveness or alertness; insensitive.
  3. adjective Dispirited; depressed.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (18)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

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Examples (50)

  • He was known as a dull dog—certainly as no one who would be likely to involve himself in any activity that was remotely daring or improper. —  Mary Balogh - Unlikely Duchess
  • He caught his balance and kept his expression dull, incorporating his accidental misstep into his usual role. —  Wit'ch's Storm
  • And the other girls thought Harriet very dull, and her mother was sure of it, and called her stupid, and sometimes shook her and railed at her, endeavoring to arouse her out of her lethargy. —  Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great, Vol. 2 of 14
  • His eyes were red-rimmed and dull, his lips the blue of the consumptive. —  David Gemmell - (Lion of Macedon 01) Lion Of Macedon v1.0 (1990).htm
  • But Lin Pretti became only a little dull, and did not talk. —  061 - Devil On The Moon
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

soft ·  bright ·  sad ·  dark ·  dim

Used in the same contextWord Family

dull:   duller ·  dullest ·  dulling ·  dulled ·  dulls
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (5)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English dul; akin to Old English dol.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (4)

  1. Early modern English also dul, dulle; from Middle English dul, dull, also dyll, dill, and in earlier use dwal, from Anglo-Saxon *dwal, *dwol, found only in contr. form dol, stupid, foolish, erring (= Old Saxon dol = OFries. dol = Dutch dol = Middle Low German dwal, dwel. dol, Low German dol, dul = Old High German Middle High German tol, German toll, mad, = Icelandic dulr, silent, close, = Goth, dwals, foolish), from dwelan, preterit *dwal, past participle gedwolen, mislead, = Old Saxon fordwelan, neglect. From the same root come Anglo-Saxon dwelian, err, dwola, dwala, error, gedwola = Old High German gitwola, error, etc., and ult. English dwell and dwale, q. v. Cf. also dill and dolt.
  2. = English dial, dill; from Middle English dullen, dyllen, dillen, make dull; from dull, a.
  3. Origin obscure; there is no evidence to connect it with dole, from Latin dolus, a device, artifice, snare, net, from Greek δόλος, a bait for fish, a snare, net, device, artifice.
  4. dull, n.
 

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/dəl/
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