dull

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

adj. unsharp, blunt; deadened, numb; stupid; tedious, uninteresting, boring; spiritless, vapid, vacuous; dead, lifeless; sluggish, listless, lethargic; lackluster, dim, cloudy, obscure, stale, jaded. —v. t. blunt. See slowness, bluntness, dimness, weariness, colorlessness. Ant., sharp, bright, lively.

II

(Roget's IV) modif.

1. [Without point or edge]

Syn. blunt, blunted, dulled, unsharpened, pointless, unpointed, round, square, flat, obtuse, edgeless, turned, nicked, battered, used, broken, toothless, edentate.

Ant. sharp*, sharpened, keen.

2. [Lacking brightness or color]

Syn. gloomy, sober, somber, drab, matte, dismal, bleak, dark, dingy, dim, dusky, dun, colorless, plain, obscure, cloudy, lackluster, tarnished, faded, unglazed, lusterless, opaque, leaden, grave, grimy, pitchy, sooty, inky, dead, black, coal-black, unlit, unlighted, sordid, dirty, muddy, murky, gray, ashen, wan, lifeless, rusty, flat, without snap*; see also dark 1 .

Ant. bright*, colorful, gleaming.

3. [Lacking intelligence or sensitivity; said usually of living beings ]

Syn. stupid, stolid, obtuse, sluggish, heavy, slow, retarded, witless, sleepy, backward, dense, dullwitted, tedious, boring, unintelligent, ignorant, unintellectual, vacuous, doltish, besotted, scatterbrained, feeble-minded, half-witted, addled, addlebrained, thick-witted, slow-witted, thick-skulled, imbecilic, insensate, dim, prosy, prosaic, unimaginative, fatuous, insensitive, unfeeling, unresponsive, numb, wooden, blunted, listless, apathetic, phlegmatic, not bright, torpid, spiritless, brainless, shallow, indolent, unentertaining, non compos mentis, simple-minded, simple, moronic, lumpish, stuffy, stodgy, dumb*, thick*, dopey*, lowbrow*, stupid as an ox*, blockheaded*, muscle-bound*, nitwitted*, dimwitted*, dead from the ears up*, not all there*; see also stupid 1 .

Ant. witty*, quick, smart.

4. [Lacking interest; said usually of writing, speaking, or inanimate things ]

Syn. tedious, boring, tiresome, prosy, heavy, leaden, prosaic, trite, hackneyed, monotonous, humdrum, dreary, dismal, dry, arid, barren, colorless, insipid, vapid, flat, bland, uninteresting, deadly, longwinded, prolix, stupid, commonplace, ordinary, common, usual, unenlivened, stuffy, stodgy, old, ancient, stale, moth-eaten, out-of-date, antediluvian, archaic, hoary, worn-out, banal, tired, driveling, senseless, pointless, uninspiring, platitudinous, pedestrian, jeJune, tame, routine, familiar, well-known, conventional, unimaginative, depressing, sluggish, plodding, repetitious, unvarying, boresome, abused, repetitive, oft-repeated, well-worn, fatiguing, wearisome, wearing, soporific, producing ennui, lifeless, wooden, characterless, wearying, tiring, unexciting, irksome, stereotyped, stereotypical, stock, the usual thing, the same old thing, slow, draggy, dry as dust, cut and dried, without any kick*, dead as a doornail*, blah*, ho-hum*.

Ant. exciting*, fascinating, exhilarating.

5. [Not loud or distinct]

Syn. muffled, muted, low, soft; see faint 3 .

6. [Showing little activity]

Syn. slow, placid, languid, lethargic, still, sluggish, listless, lackadaisical, regular, depressed, inactive, lifeless, spiritless, uneventful, unexciting, slothful, without incident, quiet, even, torpid, inert, bovine, cowlike, routine, usual, accustomed, slack, monotonous, unresponsive, stagnant, dead, boring, falling off, apathetic, stolid, flat, lumpish, lumpy, bearish, poky, off*.

Ant. stimuLating*, lively, active.

Syn.- dull is specifically applied to a point or edge that has lost its previous sharpness [ a dull knife ] and generally connotes a lack of keenness, zest, spirit, intensity, etc. [ a dull book, a dull ache ] ; blunt is often equivalent to dull , but specifically refers to a point or edge that is intentionally not sharp [ a blunt fencing saber ] ; obtuse literally applies to a pointed end whose sides form an angle greater than 90?, and figuratively connotes lack of understanding or sensitivity [ too obtuse to comprehend ] See also Synonym Study at stupid .

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) a.

1. stupid slow, unintelligent, *thick, dense, bovine, retarded, obtuse, doltish, *dumb as a post, dim-witted, half-witted, ignorant.

2. boring tedious, *ho-hum, blah, uninteresting, prosaic, dry, tiresome, bland, vapid, *dull as dishwater, humdrum, stale, lackluster, soporific.

3. subdued quiet, muted, deadened, faded, softened, muffled.

4. unsharpened blunt, unhoned, edgeless.

ANT.: 1. sharp, intelligent, quick-witted, bright. 2. exciting, stimulating, colorful, dramatic. 3. overstated, overdone, flashy, loud. 4. sharp, honed

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) I adjective 1. Having only a limited ability to learn and understand: backward, simple, simple-minded, slow, slow-witted. Informal: soft. Offensive: feeble-minded, half-witted, retarded, weak-minded. See ABILITY. 2. Lacking responsiveness or alertness: benumbed, insensible, insensitive, numb, stuporous, torpid, unresponsive, wooden. See AWARENESS. 3. Unwilling or unable to perceive: blind, purblind, uncomprehending, unperceptive. See SEE. 4. Lacking passion and emotion: anesthetic, bloodless, insensate, insensible, insensitive. See ATTITUDE, FEELINGS. 5. In low spirits: blue, dejected, depressed, desolate, dispirited, down, downcast, downhearted, dysphoric, gloomy, heavy-hearted, low, melancholic, melancholy, sad, spiritless, tristful, unhappy, wistful. Idiom: down at (or in) the mouth. See HAPPY. 6. Characterized by reduced economic activity: down, off, slack, slow, sluggish, soft. See INCREASE. 7. Not physically sharp or keen: blunt. See SHARP. 8. Arousing no interest or curiosity: boring, drear, dreary, dry, humdrum, irksome, monotonous, stuffy, tedious, tiresome, uninteresting, weariful, wearisome, weary. See EXCITE. 9. Lacking liveliness, charm, or surprise: arid, aseptic, colorless, drab, dry, earthbound, flat, flavorless, lackluster, lifeless, lusterless, matter-of-fact, pedestrian, prosaic, spiritless, sterile, stodgy, unimaginative, uninspired. See EXCITE. 10. Lacking vividness in color: dim, drab, flat, muddy, murky. See COLORS. 11. Lacking gloss and luster: dim, flat, lackluster, lusterless, mat. See LIGHT. II verb 1. To make or become less keen or responsive: dim, hebetate, stupefy. See AWARENESS. 2. To render less sensitive: benumb, blunt, deaden, desensitize, numb. Idiom: take the edge off. See AWARENESS. 3. To make or become less sharp-edged: blunt, turn. Idiom: take the edge off. See SHARP. 4. To make dim or indistinct: becloud, bedim, befog, blear, blur, cloud, dim, eclipse, fog, gloom, mist, obfuscate, obscure, overcast, overshadow, shadow. See CLEAR.