Dull synonyms and antonyms
dŭl
Category:
Part of speech:
Having a thick edge or point, as an instrument; not sharp.
The definition of melancholy is someone or something that is sad or gloomy.
Without point or edge
Having no purpose; purposeless; unable to effect an aim.
Feeling or characterized by sadness or dejection.
keen (antonym)
(UK) extremely low as to be competitive.
Without point or edge
Advertisement
unsharpened
Not sharpened.
Expressed in units measuring area:
The definition of lackluster is something lacking energy or excitement, or lacking in shine or vibrancy.
sharp (antonym)
Vigilant; alert:
unpointed
Not pointed
Advertisement
Round means a circular shape.
Not glossy; matte:
Beaten repeatedly or consistently; beaten up.
Somber; dull
Not quick or clever in understanding; dull; obtuse
Slowed or delayed in development or progress, esp. because of mental retardation
Advertisement
Uninteresting and tiresome; dull.
(Slang) Ill-mannered, crude.
Matter-of-fact and dry; prosaic.
The definition of simple-minded is someone who is unsophisticated, foolish or mentally impaired.
colorful (antonym)
Advertisement
knifelike (antonym)
not sharp
Of a dull grayish to yellowish brown.
Emitting only a small amount of light; faint:
The definition of dun is a dull grayish-brown.
Without color
Open to more than one interpretation.
Lacking brightness or color
Lacking brightness or color
Not reflecting light; having no luster:
Colored, marked, stained, or covered with ink
Being of the color black, producing or reflecting comparatively little light and having no predominant hue.
Dirty or filthy:
Lacking luster or brilliance; dull, grayish, etc.
Not bright or pure:
Having gray hair; hoary.
Made of its wood
Advertisement
That no longer has life; dead
Consisting of or caused by rust
without snap
Lacking brightness or color
Tending to make poor decisions or careless mistakes.
The definition of stolid is a person who is unexcitable and not prone to showing lots of emotion or sensitivity.
The definition of obtuse is someone who is slow to understand things.
Advertisement
Not active; slow or slow-moving; dull
Designating, of, or equipped with massive or relatively heavy weapons, armor, etc.
Lacking intelligence or wit; foolish.
Not very active; dull; quiet
Behind others in progress or development:
Difficult to understand because of complexity or obscurity:
dullwitted
Lacking intelligence or sensitivity; said usually of living beings
Advertisement
(Obsolete) Moving or progressing very slowly.
Having or showing a lack or deficiency of intelligence
unintellectual
(Of a person) Not intellectual.
Characterized by lack of purpose, of profitable employment, etc.; idle
Having the qualities of a scatterbrain.
Weak in intellectual power; wanting firmness or constancy; lacking intelligence; irresolute; vacillating; imbecile.
Having a low intelligence; dim-witted
Having an addle brain; muddled; stupid
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster's Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
Foolish; witless.
The definition of fatuous is foolish or silly.
Not having normal emotional feelings; cold; tactless; undiplomatic
Not sympathetic to others; callous or hardhearted.
Exhibiting a lack of responsiveness.
Dull; insensitive
Characterized by such a feeling
The definition of apathetic is someone who is not interested or doesn’t show any feeling or emotion.
Having or suggesting a calm, sluggish temperament; unemotional or apathetic.
not bright
Lacking intelligence or sensitivity; said usually of living beings
The definition of torpid is having lost motion, slow or unenergetic.
Lacking spirit, energy, or vigor; listless; depressed
Extending not far downward.
Causing little or no pain:
unentertaining
Not entertaining; dull.
Mentally incompetent.
(--- Biology) Having no divisions or branches; not compound:
Showing foolishness or stupidity.
Clumsy or cumbersome.
Poorly ventilated; having little fresh air; close
Dull; tedious; uninteresting
Conspicuously unintelligent; stupid:
Hard to hear or understand, as from being husky or slurred:
Of or for a lowbrow
stupid as an ox
Lacking intelligence or sensitivity; said usually of living beings
(Figuratively) Ungainly as a result of muscle over-development.
Alternative spelling of dim-witted.
dead from the ears up
Lacking intelligence or sensitivity; said usually of living beings
not all there
Lacking intelligence or sensitivity; said usually of living beings
Worn out by constant use; no longer having freshness, originality, or novelty; stale
Made trite by overuse
Having little or no variation or variety
The definition of dreary is something that is gloomy or depressing.
Characterized by ineptitude, dullness, or a lack of merit:
The definition of dry is something without moisture, water or liquid.
Not interesting; lifeless; dull
Devoid of something specified:
Lacking qualities that excite, stimulate, or interest; dull.
The definition of vapid is someone or something that is uninteresting or lacking flavor.
Exhibiting no personal worry, embarrassment, or concern:
Arousing little or no interest or curiosity; boring.
The definition of deadly is something likely to be terminal or the cause of your demise, or something complete, something hateful, or something extremely boring.
longwinded
Lacking interest; said usually of writing, speaking, or inanimate things
Tending to speak or write at excessive length.
Ordinary; common:
Belonging equally to or shared equally by two or more; joint:
In conformity with regular practice or procedure:
unenlivened
Not enlivened.
Having existed or lived for the specified time.
Having lost freshness; made musty, dry, bad, etc. by having been kept too long
Outdated
No longer in style or use; not current; outmoded; old-fashioned
Relating to, being, or characteristic of a much earlier, often more primitive period, especially one that develops into a classical stage of civilization:
Having white or gray hair from advanced age
Exhausted; tired out
Drearily commonplace and often predictable; trite:
Lacking interest; said usually of writing, speaking, or inanimate things
Without consideration, awareness or sound judgement; unreasonable; unwise; stupid.
Not able or likely to arouse enthusiasm in others
Characterised by cliches or platitudes.
Lacking interest or imagination; prosaic; ordinary and dull
In accord with established procedure:
Often encountered or seen:
(Computing, not comparable) Generally recognised; reserved for some usual purpose.
Represented, as in a work of art, in simplified or abstract form.
Dismal; dreary:
Progressing slowly and laboriously.
The definition of repetitious is something repeated over and over.
boresome
Lacking interest; said usually of writing, speaking, or inanimate things
Given to or characterized by repetition.
Lacking interest; said usually of writing, speaking, or inanimate things
Showing signs of much wear or use.
Lacking interest; said usually of writing, speaking, or inanimate things
Causing physical or mental fatigue; tedious or tiresome.
Causing fatigue; tiring:
The definition of soporific is something that tends to make you tired or that makes you sleepy or drowsy.
producing ennui
Lacking interest; said usually of writing, speaking, or inanimate things
Having no distinguishing character or quality
Lacking interest; said usually of writing, speaking, or inanimate things
Not exciting
Disagreeable or troublesome by reason of long continuance or repetition; bothersome; annoying; irritating; wearisome; tedious.
Hackneyed; trite
Hackneyed; trite
Used for breeding:
the usual thing
Lacking interest; said usually of writing, speaking, or inanimate things
the same old thing
Lacking interest; said usually of writing, speaking, or inanimate things
draggy
Moving or developing very slowly.
dry as dust
Lacking interest; said usually of writing, speaking, or inanimate things
(Idiomatic) simple, straightforward, clear, or certain
without any kick
Lacking interest; said usually of writing, speaking, or inanimate things
dead-as-a-doornail
(Simile) Unquestionably dead. Used for both inanimate objects and once living beings.
Blah is defined as a boring or depressing person or thing.
(Dated, US, Canada) Boring; not interesting or novel.
Not loud or distinct
(Music) Produced by or provided with a mute.
Ranked near the beginning of an ascending series or scale:
Having low dissolved mineral content:
Undisturbed; tranquil; calm; quiet
Without interest or spirit; listless; indifferent
Making or characterized by no sound or faint sound:
Showing lack of interest or spirit; listless; languid
Not affecting the plane of polarized light: said of some isomers of certain optically active crystalline substances
With no outstanding or unusual event; peaceful, routine, etc.
Characterized by sloth; indolent; lazy
without incident
Showing little activity
Of, relating to, or resembling a ruminant mammal of the bovid subfamily Bovinae, such as a cow, ox, or buffalo, especially one in the genus Bos.
cowlike
Resembling a cow.
Familiar through use; usual; customary.
Slow; idle; sluggish
Showing little or no activity or vitality; inactive or sluggish:
Showing little activity
Thickset or cumbersome.
Not lively; slow, dull, dilatory, etc.
Started on the way.
lively (antonym)
Bounding back with, or having, great resilience
active (antonym)
Erupting or liable to erupt; not dormant:
dark (related)
Sullen or threatening:
faint (related)
Performed, done, or acted, in a weak or feeble manner; not exhibiting vigor, strength, or energy; slight; as, faint efforts; faint resistance.
Noncontentious, blandly agreeable, unlikely to cause offence or debate; bland, inoffensive. [from 20th c.]
Using methods to protect against infection by pathogenic microorganisms:
banausic
Materialistic
beetle-headed
(Botany) Failing to produce flowers or fruits:
Stale, trite, or commonplace through overuse; clichéd:
Having calluses; toughened:
Involving or based on direct observation of a patient:
Of, relating to, or affected with coma; unconscious.
Affected or marked by low spirits; dejected.
Afflicted; sick:
Inclined to drowse; heavy with sleepiness; lethargic; dozy.
Having or revealing no individuality, personality or distinctive characteristics.
Confused; perplexed
Partially or totally dark, especially dismal and dreary:
(Bot.) Having a blunt point, as certain leaves
Not having the qualities associated with active, living organisms.
Inappropriate:
Not sensible or reasonable; meaningless.
Not shiny or glossy; dull
So lacking in recognizable character or qualities as to belong to no definite class or type; hard to classify or describe
Sewn with long, overlying stitches in order to prevent raveling, as the raw edges of fabric.
The definition of pallid is someone who is abnormally pale, especially someone lacking in color.
Characterized by an unsophisticated focus on local concerns to the exclusion of wider contexts; elementary in scope or outlook.
Done without care or interest or merely as a form or routine; superficial
subfusc
Having a dull or dark, often drab, color
Characterized by a lack of excitement or liveliness; unexciting or uninteresting:
unsensational
Not sensational
zestless
Lacking zest; passionless, unenthusiastic.
The definition of apathy is a lack of emotion or interest.
The definition of a bromide is a compound containing bromine.
crassitude
(Archaic) thickness, coarseness
Work that is hard, menial, or tiresome
Dullness of mind; mental lethargy.
(Uncountable) The condition of being insipid; insipidness.
Tedium as a result of repetition or a lack of variety.
obtuseness
Something that is obtuse
A trite or banal remark or statement, especially one expressed as if it were original or significant.
prosaism
A prosaic expression
Abnormal, repeated, nonfunctional behavior, such as pacing or chewing, in a captive or domesticated animal.
tepidity
The property of being tepid.
A statement that is obviously true or that is often presented as true:
The definition of allay means to make better or decrease something that is unpleasant.
To make less severe, as a pain or difficulty.
The definition of assuage is to fulfill the needs of.
To make (the eyes or the vision) dim; darken or obscure
To make numb, especially by cold.
(Mathematics) To reduce (an equation) in a lower degree.
To deprive of courage or enthusiasm; discourage; depress; daunt
To cause to be less extreme, intense, or violent.
To diminish the stature of; overshadow or detract from:
obtund
To make less intense; dull or deaden.
To deduct or return (an amount) from a payment or bill.
To make or become sad.
To make stagnant
Sully is defined as to spoil or stain, or to disgrace.
To soil, sully, damage or compromise
(Informal) To live or spend a period of time in a dull, inactive, un-challenging way.
interesting (antonym)
exciting (antonym)
light (antonym)
Not encumbered; unembarrassed; clear of impediments; hence, active; nimble; swift.
luminous (antonym)
Glowing in the dark, as paint with a phosphor in it
sensitive (antonym)
Responsive to external conditions or stimulation; having sensation:
vivacious (antonym)
The definition of vivacious is lively or animated.
pointed (antonym)
Sharp; incisive; to the point, as an epigram
serrated (antonym)
Having a row of sharp or tooth-like projections.
intelligent (antonym)
Well thought-out, well considered.
smart (antonym)
(Archaic) Brisk; fresh.
witty (antonym)
The definition of witty is someone or something that is funny and clever.
Alternative spelling of weak-minded.
Partly blind
Lacking comprehension or understanding.
A drug that temporarily depresses neuronal function, producing total or partial loss of sensation with or without the loss of consciousness.
Achieved without bloodshed:
Sad and dispirited.
(Of a person) Feeling despondent.
(Idiomatic) Sad, melancholy.
Of or relating to melancholia.
Sorrowful; gloomy.
Not suitable; inappropriate:
Expressing sadness or yearning:
weariful
Fatigued; exhausted.
Straightforward or unemotional:
Producing little or no vegetation; unfruitful:
To become sour:
To darken with or as if with clouds; obscure:
To make obscure or muddled; confuse; bewilder
To blur (a surface or an outline)
To become cloudy or overcast:
The partial or total blocking of light of one celestial object by another. An eclipse of the Sun or Moon occurs when the Earth, Moon, and Sun are aligned. &diamf3; In a solar eclipse the Moon comes between the Sun and Earth. During a total solar eclipse the disk of the Moon fully covers that of the Sun, and only the Sun's corona is visible. &diamf3; An annular eclipse occurs when the Moon is farthest in its orbit from the Earth so that its disk does not fully cover that of the Sun, and part of the Sun's photosphere is visible as a ring around the Moon. &diamf3; In a lunar eclipse all or a part of the Moon's disk enters the umbra of the Earth's shadow and is no longer illuminated by the Sun. Lunar eclipses occur only during a full moon, when the Moon is directly opposite the Sun.
(Intransitive) to look or feel sad, sullen or despondent.
To spray the leaves of (a houseplant) with water from a mister
To obfuscate is to confuse someone, or to obscure the meaning of something.
To cast a shadow over; darken or obscure.
(Archaic) To shelter from light or heat
down at (or in) the mouth
take-the-edge-off
ability (related)
Having only a limited ability to learn and understand
awareness (related)
Lacking responsiveness or alertness
see (related)
Unwilling or unable to perceive
attitude (related)
Lacking passion and emotion
feelings (related)
Lacking passion and emotion
happy (related)
Experiencing the effect of favourable fortune; having the feeling arising from the consciousness of well-being or of enjoyment; enjoying good of any kind, as peace, tranquillity, comfort; contented; joyous.
increase (related)
Characterized by reduced economic activity
excite (related)
Arousing no interest or curiosity
colors (related)
Lacking vividness in color
so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness; ; ; ; ; ; - Edmund Burke; ; - Mark Twain
not clear and resonant; sounding as if striking with or against something relatively soft
To wrap or cover in order to deaden or prevent sound
To turn off the sound of.
To suppress or extinguish (a fire) by reducing or cutting off air.
(Intransitive) To become damp; to deaden.
Without point or edge
Without point or edge
That has been used
The definition of broken is split, out of order, or not continuous.
Lacking force; ineffectual.
(Zoology) Belonging to the Edentata.
Plain or subdued, as in decoration:
The definition of bleak is something that is gloomy, somber or exposed to wind and cold.
Lacking light; dim; shadowy
Alternative form of thickwitted.
fascinating (antonym)
Possessing the power to charm or allure; captivating.
exhilarating (antonym)
Causing exhilaration; invigorating.
stimulating (antonym)
Having a manner that stimulates.
turgid (related)
miserable (related)
uninspire (related)
hazy (related)
cloy (related)
Synonym Study
- Obtuse literally applies to a pointed end whose sides form an angle greater than 90⅓⅓⅓⅓⅓°, and figuratively connotes lack of understanding or sensitivity too obtuse to comprehend See also syn. study at stupid.
- Blunt is often equivalent to dull , but specifically refers to a point or edge that is intentionally not sharp a blunt fencing saber
- 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