dim

¹dim

adj \ˈdim\

dim·merdim·mest

Definition of DIM

1

a : emitting or having a limited or insufficient amount of light <dim stars> <a dim lamp> <a dim hallway> b : dull, lusterless <dim colors> c : lacking pronounced, clear-cut, or vigorous quality or character <a dim echo of the past>

2

a : seen indistinctly <a dim outline> b : perceived by the senses or mind indistinctly or weakly : faint <had only a dim notion of what was going on> c : having little prospect of favorable result or outcome <a dim future> d : characterized by an unfavorable, skeptical, or pessimistic attitude —usually used in the phrase take a dim view of

3

: not perceiving clearly and distinctly <dim eyes>

4

: dim-witted

— dim·ly adverb

— dim·ma·ble \ˈdi-mə-bəl\ adjective

— dim·ness noun

Examples of DIM

1. Just the dim outline of the building could be seen through the fog.
2. I have a dim memory of your last visit.

Origin of DIM

Middle English, from Old English dimm; akin to Old High German timber dark

First Known Use: before 12th century

Related to DIM

Synonyms: black, caliginous, darkened, darkish, darkling, darksome, dark, dimmed, dusk, dusky, gloomy, lightless, murky, obscure, obscured, pitch-black, pitch-dark, pitchy, rayless, somber (or sombre), stygian, tenebrific, tenebrous, unlit

Antonyms: bright, brightened, brilliant, illuminated, illumined, light, lit (or lighted), lightsome, lucent, lucid, luminous

Related Words: crepuscular, twilit; moonless, starless, sunless; cloudy, dull, dulled, lackluster; shadowlike, shadowy, shady; gray (also grey), leaden, pale; beclouded, befogged, clouded, foggy, fuliginous, misty, smoggy, soupy

Near Antonyms: ablaze, agleam, aglitter, alight, beaming, beamy, effulgent, glaring, glowing, incandescent, lambent, radiant, relucent, resplendent, shining, sparkling; ultrabright; glossy, lustrous, shiny; floodlit (also floodlighted), highlighted, spotlighted (or spotlit); moonlit, moony, starlit, sunlit

see all synonyms and antonyms

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Rhymes with DIM

bream, brim, glim, grim, Grimm, gym, him, hymn, limb, limn, mim, nim, prim, rim, scrim, shim, skim, slim, swim, Tim, trim, vim, whim