dull
dull [dull dulls dulled dulling duller dullest] adjective, verb BrE [dʌl] NAmE [dʌl]
adjective (dull·er, dull·est)
BORING
1. not interesting or exciting
Syn: ↑dreary
• Life in a small town could be deadly dull.
• The countryside was flat, dull and uninteresting.
•The first half of the game was pretty dull.
•There's never a dull moment when John's around.
LIGHT/COLOURS
2. not bright or shiny
•a dull grey colour
•dull, lifeless hair
• Her eyes were dull.
WEATHER
3. not bright, with a lot of clouds
Syn: ↑overcast
• It was a dull, grey day.
SOUNDS
4. not clear or loud
• The gates shut behind him with a dull thud.
PAIN
5. not very severe, but continuous
•a dull ache/pain
PERSON
6. slow in understanding
Syn: ↑stupid
•a dull pupil
TRADE
7. (especially NAmE)not busy; slow
• Don't sell into a dull market.
more at all work and no play (makes Jack a dull boy) at ↑work n.
Word Origin:
Old English dol ‘stupid’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch dol ‘crazy’ and German toll ‘mad, fantastic, wonderful’.
Thesaurus:
dull adj.
•She found her job very dull.
boring • • tedious • • uninteresting • • dry • • repetitive • • monotonous •
Opp: interesting
dull/boring/tedious/repetitive/monotonous jobs/work
a dull/boring/tedious/dry subject/book
a dull/boring/uninteresting place
Synonyms:
boring
dull • tedious
These words all describe a subject, activity, person or place that is not interesting or exciting.
boring • not interesting; making you feel tired and impatient: ▪ He's such a boring man! ◇ ▪ She found her job very boring.
dull • not interesting or exciting: ▪ Life in a small town could be deadly dull.
tedious • lasting or taking too long and not interesting, so that you feel bored and impatient: ▪ The journey soon became tedious.
to be boring/dull/tedious for sb
boring/dull/tedious subjects/books
boring/dull/tedious jobs/work/games
a boring/dull place/man/woman/person
deadly boring/dull
Example Bank:
•The long lectures made the afternoon dull.
•The movie was long and deadly dull.
•The work gets a bit dull at times.
•He is the author of several dull novels.
•Her eyes were dull with dark shadows beneath them.
•The blood stained the grass a dull red colour.
•The fire died down to a dull glow.
•The town seemed deserted in the dull afternoon light.
•There's never a dull moment when John's around.
•We've had a dull start to the season.
Idiom: ↑dull as ditchwater
Derived Words: ↑dullness ▪ ↑dully
verb
PAIN
1. transitive, intransitive ~ (sth) (of pain or an emotion)to become or be made weaker or less severe
•The tablets they gave him dulled the pain for a while.
PERSON
2. transitive ~ sb to make a person slower or less lively
•He felt dulled and stupid with sleep.
COLOURS/SOUNDS
3. intransitive, transitive to become or to make sth less bright, clean or sharp
•His eyes dulled and he slumped to the ground.
•~ sth The endless rain seemed to dull all sound.
Verb forms: 
Word Origin:
Old English dol ‘stupid’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch dol ‘crazy’ and German toll ‘mad, fantastic, wonderful’.
Example Bank:
•The heat dulled my enjoyment of the journey.
See also: ↑dull as dishwater
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