dull

1. adjective

1)

a dull novel

Syn:

uninteresting, boring, tedious, monotonous, unrelieved, unvaried, unimaginative, uneventful; characterless, featureless, colorless, lifeless, insipid, unexciting, uninspiring, unstimulating, jejune, flat, bland, dry, stale, tired, banal, lackluster, ho-hum, stodgy, dreary, humdrum, mundane; mind-numbing, wearisome, tiring, tiresome, irksome, dullsville

Ant:

interesting

2)

a dull morning

Syn:

overcast, cloudy, gloomy, dark, dismal, dreary, somber, gray, murky, sunless

Ant:

sunny, bright

3)

dull colors

Syn:

drab, dreary, somber, dark, subdued, muted, lackluster, faded, washed out, muddy, dingy

Ant:

bright

4)

a dull sound

Syn:

muffled, muted, quiet, soft, faint, indistinct; stifled, suppressed

Ant:

loud, resonant

5)

the chisel became dull

Syn:

blunt, unsharpened, edgeless, worn down

Ant:

sharp

6)

a rather dull child

Syn:

unintelligent, stupid, slow, witless, vacuous, empty-headed, stunned, brainless, mindless, foolish, idiotic; informal dense, dim, moronic, halfwitted, thick, dumb, dopey, dozy, bovine, slow on the uptake, wooden-headed, fat-headed

See note at stupid

Ant:

clever

7)

her cold made her feel dull

Syn:

sluggish, lethargic, enervated, listless, languid, torpid, slow, sleepy, drowsy, weary, tired, fatigued; apathetic; informal dozy, dopey, yawny, logy

Ant:

lively

2. verb

1)

the pain was dulled by drugs

Syn:

lessen, decrease, diminish, reduce, dampen, blunt, deaden, allay, ease, soothe, assuage, alleviate

Ant:

intensify

2)

sleep dulled her mind

Syn:

numb, benumb, deaden, desensitize, stupefy, daze

Ant:

enliven

3)

rain dulled the sky

Syn:

darken, blacken, dim, veil, obscure, shadow, fog

Ant:

brighten

4)

the somber atmosphere dulled her spirit

Syn:

dampen, lower, depress, crush, sap, extinguish, smother, stifle

Ant:

raise, brighten