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Crossword clues for dull

dull
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
dull
I.adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a dull pain (=a slight but continuous pain)
▪ There was a dull pain in his lower jaw.
a dull/hard/heavy thud
▪ There was a dull thud as the box hit the floor.
a dull/routine existence
▪ I was overjoyed at the prospect of leaving my routine existence behind.
cloudy/dull/overcast (=with clouds)
▪ Cloudy skies were forecast.
dull ache
▪ A dull ache throbbed at the back of David’s head.
dull (=not shiny)
▪ a shampoo for dull hair
there’s never a dull moment (=something is always exciting or full of activity)
▪ There’s never a dull moment with Chris around!
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
as
▪ It was as dull as the overcast sky.
▪ Without the light from the screen, the condo room seems as dull and impersonal as a room in a Holiday Inn.
▪ Today her eyes were as dull as a puddle.
▪ The flat, oblong tin was full of chunky rings, as dull as lead but interestingly shaped and bevelled.
▪ Such students may seem to lack initiative and may even be dismissed as dull.
▪ The bald dome of a head emerged first, cast by the moonlight as dull ivory.
never
▪ And life there is never dull.
▪ They were not perfect, but they were never dull, either.
▪ But life is never dull when she is around.
▪ There was one church in Malvern, however, where things were never dull.
▪ Whether one agreed with his view of a work or not, Bernstein was never dull.
▪ It is never dull or static.
▪ Life's never dull when Ronny's around.
pretty
▪ Resorts that are glorious in mid-summer can be bleak and damp in winter as well as pretty dull when the tourist season is over.
▪ No, most arbitrations are pretty dull, transfer of bargaining-unit work, etc.
▪ Good plan-except the result is a pretty dull confection for anyone but ardent Depp and praline fans.
▪ Real detective work can be pretty dull.
▪ Early levels are pretty dull, but as they get littered with more traps and obstacles, things get more interesting.
▪ The sports page was pretty dull.
▪ It looked pretty dull to me, although I did not say so.
▪ And, for all the appeal of his singing and playing, Paul Hipp comes out pretty dull between the numbers.
rather
▪ In reality, one finds people reading newspapers, knitting and drinking cups of tea, but this constitutes rather dull television.
▪ The Pierce and Pierce bond department had consisted of only twenty souls, twenty rather dull souls known as the Bond Bores.
▪ No definite shape, rather dull colour.
▪ It is a reputable if rather dull book, but Lord Derby was a dull man.
▪ They make a thing of this strong-box business, but ours mostly has rather dull securities and family papers in it.
▪ Certainly the resulting curriculum looks rather dull compared with the initial considerations which offered the possibility of a refreshing new view.
▪ For wholefood enthusiasts, I would recommend buckwheat pasta rather than wholemeal, which I think is rather dull in flavour and texture.
▪ Smooth and polished, but rather dull.
so
▪ Small wonder the back benches look so dull.
▪ Apollo said that he was merely giving to ears so dull and dense the proper shape.
▪ Their food is so dull and poor that they will be ill when the bad weather comes.
▪ I wonder how Bob can be so dull on the surface and have such interesting friends.
▪ It seemed so dull by comparison.
▪ It is a humdrum enough explanation which goes some way to explaining why most public appointments are so dull.
▪ The question is, how did these guys manage to make so many beautiful women look so dull?
too
▪ This week, Ali G lookalike Gavin Burtenshaw hit the headlines for reasons too dull to mention.
▪ Now he was dead, it would be too dangerous and too dull.
▪ In summary, this: that men were either too dull or too pointed with nothing in between.
very
▪ This sounds very dull, but it isn't.
▪ They just seemed very ordinary and very dull and boring people.
▪ The office at Felixstowe seemed a very dull and prosaic place after those hectic nine months.
▪ After the first thrill of novelty wears off, the Internet can be a very dull place.
▪ The former were usually lively and interesting; the latter, almost equally likely to be very dull indeed.
▪ The palette will guide you towards a wide range of violets from the very dull to the bright.
▪ Her own visit to the cinema with an inarticulate young man from the West of Ireland seemed very dull by comparison.
▪ They liked to name places after very dull Victorians.
■ NOUN
ache
▪ The pain in her lower back subsided leaving a dull ache.
▪ I am feeling much better, though there are many times when I feel a dull ache.
▪ Sleep away the tiredness and the dull ache inside his head, that was the thing to do.
▪ They felt nothing but a dull ache in their backs.
▪ It ached an ugly, dull ache.
▪ It starts as a dull ache that gradually evolves into a severe throbbing pain, centering in the frontal and temporal regions.
▪ It wasn't really very bad but it was a dull ache that made her realise she would never get to sleep.
▪ It seemed that here, there was never any spring, only wind and rain and the dull ache of loss.
life
▪ With or without heart trouble, Shelby wasn't a man to settle for a dull life.
moment
▪ And, you know, there isn't one dull moment in the entire opera!
▪ But how many dull moments may I have given my listeners?
▪ Never a dull moment in this establishment.
▪ There was seldom a dull moment in our house.
▪ There was certainly never a dull moment in our section of the Waafery.
▪ Never a dull moment, sitting around Fif's.
▪ Even the most interesting of jobs will have its fair share of dull moments, for there is drudgery in every job.
▪ There's never a dull moment at Ballytreabhair.
pain
▪ There was a dull pain in his left biceps - Tessa's head was pillowed on it.
▪ There are days when I scarcely remember the injury, other days when I feel drained by a constant dull pain.
▪ His stomach contracted and dull pain in his empty lungs spread.
▪ He didn't bother to report the headache to the medical officer, considering the dull pain only a minor discomfort.
thud
▪ As he moved along the rows of guns, his wooden leg sounded dull thuds.
▪ The gunshots were no longer dull thuds echoing off the hill but reports, punctuated by the snapping of triggers.
▪ There were dull thuds from the cargo hold.
▪ Another dull thud behind his left knee.
▪ The gates shut behind him with a dull thud and the sound of the wind died away.
▪ Plastic produces a dull thud, while glass gives a high-pitched clink.
▪ Almost immediately there was a dull thud as it fell on the floor.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
all work and no play (makes Jack a dull boy)
as dull as ditchwater
deadly serious/dull/boring etc
▪ And at a time which - surely it was obvious - was deadly serious.
▪ He's a deadly dull little man as far as I can see.
▪ He was deadly serious and I knew it.
▪ His companion chuckled at the jest, but Gravelet, whose stage name was Blondin, was deadly serious.
▪ It was now clear, however, that the position was becoming deadly serious.
▪ Suppose, for example, you regularly attend a weekly meeting which tends to be deadly dull.
▪ The noise level was high in both languages; all faces were deadly serious.
▪ The primary indicator is Attempts to be deadly serious invariably result in unintended comedy.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ a dull headache
▪ A dull opening Wednesday on Wall Street kept stock prices at low levels.
▪ a dull student
▪ Her hair was a dull, darkish brown.
▪ Here, use this knife - that one's dull.
▪ His head hit the floor with a dull thud.
▪ I'm afraid I must seem very dull compared with all those interesting people you meet.
▪ It will be dry but dull this morning, with the possibility of showers later in the day.
▪ Margaret has such a dull personality.
▪ Our neighbours are OK, I suppose, but they're so dull!
▪ They chose a red clay pot decorated with patterns in dull white paint.
▪ This kind of mindless work can become very dull very quickly.
▪ This place gets really dull at times.
▪ We spent a dull afternoon with some of Harold's business associates.
▪ When a plant changes color from bright green to dull gray-green, it needs water.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ A dull look in his eyes.
▪ A clean site that people can find their way around easily will always beat one that's complicated, dull or fussy.
▪ And their dull appearance is often accompanied by teaching methods that consist mostly of scribbling graphs on a blackboard.
▪ Any animal species that happens to be superficially dull will be ignored, perhaps even maltreated.
▪ I hate all ordinary dull little people who aren't ashamed of being dull and little.
▪ My job is dull and boring.
▪ We are not employed just for work - dull, boring, monotonous work.
▪ Without the light from the screen, the condo room seems as dull and impersonal as a room in a Holiday Inn.
II.verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ NOUN
pain
▪ Gin, ice and tonic water dull the pain of a long day.
▪ Finally, the sweetness of the moment dulled the pain of knowing I had just placed my most cherished customer in jeopardy.
▪ The anaesthetist, Peter Graham, had arrived and managed to dull his pain.
▪ The dentist office dulls the pain, and that is a new experience for Osvaldo Fernandez.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Three times a day, he takes medication to dull the pain from back problems.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ As soon as a leaf dries, it begins to dull, lacking the luminescence that one full of juices has.
▪ But those wines give only momentary pleasure and thereafter the senses are dulled and the mind is clouded.
▪ Finally, the sweetness of the moment dulled the pain of knowing I had just placed my most cherished customer in jeopardy.
▪ It swirled amongst the convent buildings, dulling the spirit - even mine after such a riotous night.
▪ On surveying the organizational ranks, they see only low morale, divisiveness, cynicism, and dulled thinking.
▪ The streets are clean, there's no smog to dull the sunshine, and the skyscrapers don't overpower.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Dull

Dull \Dull\, a. [Compar. Duller; superl. Dullest.] [AS. dol foolish; akin to gedwelan to err, D. dol mad, dwalen to wander, err, G. toll mad, Goth. dwals foolish, stupid, cf. Gr. ? turbid, troubled, Skr. dhvr to cause to fall. Cf. Dolt, Dwale, Dwell, Fraud.]

  1. Slow of understanding; wanting readiness of apprehension; stupid; doltish; blockish. ``Dull at classical learning.''
    --Thackeray.

    She is not bred so dull but she can learn.
    --Shak.

  2. Slow in action; sluggish; unready; awkward.

    This people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing.
    --Matt. xiii. 15.

    O, help my weak wit and sharpen my dull tongue.
    --Spenser.

  3. Insensible; unfeeling.

    Think me not So dull a devil to forget the loss Of such a matchless wife. -- Beau. & Fl.

  4. Not keen in edge or point; lacking sharpness; blunt. ``Thy scythe is dull.''
    --Herbert.

  5. Not bright or clear to the eye; wanting in liveliness of color or luster; not vivid; obscure; dim; as, a dull fire or lamp; a dull red or yellow; a dull mirror.

  6. Heavy; gross; cloggy; insensible; spiritless; lifeless; inert. ``The dull earth.''
    --Shak.

    As turning the logs will make a dull fire burn, so changes of study a dull brain. -- Longfellow.

  7. Furnishing little delight, spirit, or variety; uninteresting; tedious; cheerless; gloomy; melancholy; depressing; as, a dull story or sermon; a dull occupation or period; hence, cloudy; overcast; as, a dull day.

    Along life's dullest, dreariest walk. -- Keble.

    Syn: Lifeless; inanimate; dead; stupid; doltish; heavy; sluggish; sleepy; drowsy; gross; cheerless; tedious; irksome; dismal; dreary; clouded; tarnished; obtuse. See Lifeless.

Dull

Dull \Dull\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Duller; p. pr. & vb. n. Dulling.]

  1. To deprive of sharpness of edge or point. ``This . . . dulled their swords.''
    --Bacon.

    Borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
    --Shak.

  2. To make dull, stupid, or sluggish; to stupefy, as the senses, the feelings, the perceptions, and the like.

    Those [drugs] she has Will stupefy and dull the sense a while.
    --Shak.

    Use and custom have so dulled our eyes.
    --Trench.

  3. To render dim or obscure; to sully; to tarnish. ``Dulls the mirror.''
    --Bacon.

  4. To deprive of liveliness or activity; to render heavy; to make inert; to depress; to weary; to sadden.

    Attention of mind . . . wasted or dulled through continuance.
    --Hooker.

Dull

Dull \Dull\, v. i. To become dull or stupid.
--Rom. of R.

Related phrases:
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
dull

c.1200, "stupid;" early 13c., "blunt, not sharp;" rare before mid-14c., apparently from Old English dol "dull-witted, foolish," or an unrecorded parallel word, or from Middle Low German dul "slow-witted," both from Proto-Germanic *dulaz (cognates: Old Frisian and Old Saxon dol "foolish," Old High German tol, German toll "mad, wild," Gothic dwals "foolish"), from PIE *dheu- (1) "dust, vapor, smoke" (and related notions of "defective perception or wits"). Of color from early 15c.; of pain or other sensations from 1725. Sense of "boring" first recorded 1580s.\n\ndull. (8) Not exhilarating; not delightful; as to make dictionaries is dull work.

[Johnson]

\nDullsville, slang for "town where nothing happens," attested from 1960.
dull

c.1200, "to grow weary, tire;" of pointed or edged things from c.1400; of the senses from 1550s; from dull (adj.). Related: Dulled; dulling.

Wiktionary
dull

  1. 1 Lacking the ability to cut easily; not sharp. 2 boring; not exciting or interesting. 3 Not shiny; having a matte finish or no particular luster or brightness. 4 Not bright or intelligent; stupid; slow of understanding. v

  2. 1 (context transitive English) To render dull; to remove or blunt an edge or something that was sharp. 2 (context transitive English) To soften, moderate or blunt; to make dull, stupid, or sluggish; to stupefy. 3 (context intransitive English) To lose a sharp edge; to become dull. 4 To render dim or obscure; to sully; to tarnish.

Related phrases:
WordNet
dull

  1. adj. lacking in liveliness or animation; "he was so dull at parties"; "a dull political campaign"; "a large dull impassive man"; "dull days with nothing to do"; "how dull and dreary the world is"; "fell back into one of her dull moods" [ant: lively]

  2. emitting or reflecting very little light; "a dull glow"; "dull silver badly in need of a polish"; "a dull sky" [ant: bright]

  3. being or made softer or less loud or clear; "the dull boom of distant breaking waves"; "muffled drums"; "the muffled noises of the street"; "muted trumpets" [syn: muffled, muted, softened]

  4. so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness; "a boring evening with uninteresting people"; "the deadening effect of some routine tasks"; "a dull play"; "his competent but dull performance"; "a ho-hum speaker who couldn't capture their attention"; "what an irksome task the writing of long letters is"- Edmund Burke; "tedious days on the train"; "the tiresome chirping of a cricket"- Mark Twain; "other people's dreams are dreadfully wearisome" [syn: boring, deadening, ho-hum, irksome, slow, tedious, tiresome, wearisome]

  5. (of color) very low in saturation; highly diluted; "dull greens and blues"

  6. not keenly felt; "a dull throbbing"; "dull pain" [ant: sharp]

  7. slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity; "so dense he never understands anything I say to him"; "never met anyone quite so dim"; "although dull at classical learning, at mathematics he was uncommonly quick"- Thackeray; "dumb officials make some really dumb decisions"; "he was either normally stupid or being deliberately obtuse"; "worked with the slow students" [syn: dense, dim, dumb, obtuse, slow]

  8. (of business) not active or brisk; "business is dull (or slow)"; "a sluggish market" [syn: slow, sluggish]

  9. not having a sharp edge or point; "the knife was too dull to be of any use" [ant: sharp]

  10. blunted in responsiveness or sensibility; "a dull gaze"; "so exhausted she was dull to what went on about her"- Willa Cather

  11. not clear and resonant; sounding as if striking with or against something relatively soft; "the dull thud"; "thudding bullets" [syn: thudding]

  12. darkened with overcast; "a dark day"; "a dull sky"; "a gray rainy afternoon"; "gray clouds"; "the sky was leaden and thick" [syn: gray, grey, leaden]

dull

  1. v. make dull in appearance; "Age had dulled the surface"

  2. become dull or lusterless in appearance; lose shine or brightness; "the varnished table top dulled with time"

  3. deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping [syn: muffle, mute, damp, dampen, tone down]

  4. make numb or insensitive; "The shock numbed her senses" [syn: numb, benumb, blunt]

  5. make dull or blunt; "Too much cutting dulls the knife's edge" [syn: blunt] [ant: sharpen]

  6. become less interesting or attractive [syn: pall]

  7. make less lively or vigorous; "Middle age dulled her appetite for travel"

Wikipedia
Dull

Dull may refer to:

  • Boring
  • Dull, Perth and Kinross, Scotland, United Kingdom
  • Dull, Ohio, United States
  • Dull Gret, a figure of Flemish folklore

People with the surname Dull:

  • Jack Dull (1930-1995), professor at the University of Washington
  • John Dull (21st century), American musician
  • Orville O. Dull (April 25, 1888 – December 29, 1978), American producer of the Academy Award-winning film The Secret Land
Related phrases:

Usage examples of "dull".

The musty auditorium was a dimly lit torture chamber, filled with the droning dull voice punctuated by the sharp screams of the electrified, the sea of nodding heads abob here and there with painfully leaping figures.

Any faithful account of police investigations, in even the most spectacular homicide case, would be abysmally dull.

The juice of the root is very acrid when sniffed up the nostrils, and causes a copious flow of water therefrom, thus giving marked relief for obstinate congestive headache of a dull, passive sort.

I saw the unlucky son of Sicily the next morning, and I told him that, having found the actress very dull, I would not see her again.

Toward the end of her adolescence, her life had speeded up, then there had been a long dull period.

The Hemp Agrimony grows with us in moist, shady places, with a tall reddish stem, and with terminal crowded heads of dull lilac flowers.

I reached the Col de la Faucille at sunset, when, for a few minutes, the Mont Blanc and Aiguille Verte showed themselves in dull red light, but were buried again, before the sun was quite down, in the rising deluge of cloud-poison.

There was a dull ache throughout his body, and for the first few moments he thought he was still in the storeroom, waiting for Marks and Akers to begin the next round of their one-sided prizefight.

Poets and kings are but the clerks of Time, Tiering the same dull webs of discontent, Clipping the same sad alnage of the years.

I was so grateful that I asked her to marry me, though I found her dull company, ambitionless, too much of a shouter, a hitter.

Its verdure was a bright purple instead of the by now familiar gray or green, its amethystine bark electric against the background of its duller companions.

It seemed as if nothing could rouse or sting her out of the dull apathy into which she had reacted after the desperate excitement of the preceding day.

The blue trollies had been replaced with hi-tech steely ones, the ceiling lowered, the faintly aquarial plate glass was replaced with storm-grey-one-way-see-through-no-glare which made even bright days dull ones.

Their conversation was dull and predictable and he flowed past them, and down into the artefact chambers below the palace.

That evening, while a dull glow still lingered in the western sky, though the shadows of dusk were fallen on the fort and its surroundings, Major Hester passed the sentry at one of the gates and walked slowly, as though for an aimless stroll, as far as the little French-Canadian church.