dim

dim

adjective

Definition of DIM

1

being without light or without much light <a dim room in the basement that is very depressing>

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

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

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

2

lacking a surface luster or gloss <over time, exposure to ultraviolet light will make bright pigments turn dim>

Synonyms dim, dull, dulled, flat, lusterless

Related Words tarnished, unpolished; cloudy, dingy, dirty, drab, lackluster, mousy (or mousey), muddy; gray (also grey), leaden, pale, palish; black, dark, darkened, darkish, dimmed, dusky, gloomy, murky, obscure, obscured, pitch-black, pitch-dark, somber (or sombre), stygian, tenebrific, tenebrous

Near Antonyms buffed, burnished, glazed, lacquered, polished, rubbed, shellacked, varnished; satin, satiny; silken, silky; slick, slippery; gemmy, gleaming, glimmering, glinting, glistening, glittering, scintillating, shimmering, shining, sparkling, twinkling; beaming, bedazzling, bright, brightened, brilliant, candescent, dazzling, effulgent, fulgent, glowing, incandescent, lambent, lucent, lucid, luminous, radiant, refulgent, resplendent, shining

Antonyms glossy, lustrous, shiny, sleek

3

not seen or understood clearly <have only a dim knowledge of the subject>

Synonyms blear, bleary, blurry, dim, foggy, fuzzy, gauzy, hazy, indefinite, indistinct, indistinguishable, misty, murky, nebulous, obscure, opaque, pale, shadowy, unclear, undefined, undetermined, vague

Related Words dark, dusky, gloomy; impalpable, inappreciable, intangible, invisible; hieroglyphic (also hieroglyphical), incomprehensible, indecipherable, indiscernible, inexplicable, mysterious, obfuscatory, puzzling

Near Antonyms bright, distinct, evident, obvious, plain; certain, firm, strong, sure

Antonyms clear, definite, pellucid

4

not having or showing an ability to absorb ideas readily <she's kind of dim, but really sweet>

Synonyms airheaded, birdbrained, bonehead, boneheaded, brain-dead, brainless, bubbleheaded, chuckleheaded, dense, dim, dim-witted, doltish, dopey (also dopy), dorky [slang], dull, dumb, dunderheaded, empty-headed, fatuous, gormless [chiefly British], half-witted, knuckleheaded, lamebrain (or lamebrained), lunkheaded, mindless, oafish, obtuse, opaque, pinheaded, senseless, simple, slow, slow-witted, soft, softheaded, thick, thickheaded, thick-witted, unintelligent, unsmart, vacuous, weak-minded, witless

Related Words cretinous, feebleminded, simpleminded; boobish, foolish, idiotic (also idiotical), imbecile (or imbecilic), moronic; ignorant, illiterate, lowbrow, uneducated, uninformed, unintellectual, untaught, unthinking; absurd, asinine, balmy, cockeyed, crackpot, crazy, cuckoo, daffy, daft, dippy, dotty, featherheaded, fool, half-baked, harebrained, insane, kooky (also kookie), loony (also looney), lunatic, mad, nonsensical, nutty, preposterous, sappy, screwball, silly, tomfool, unwise, wacky (also whacky), zany; fallacious, illogical, invalid, irrational, unreasonable

Near Antonyms ingenious, resourceful; acute, astute, discerning, insightful, keen, knowing, perceptive, percipient, perspicacious, sagacious, sage, sapient, savvy, wise; cerebral, erudite, highbrow, intellectual, knowledgeable, learned, literate, scholarly, thinking, well-read; educated, informed, schooled, skilled, trained; crafty, cunning, foxy, shrewd, wily; judicious, prudent, sane, sensible, sound; logical, rational, reasonable, valid

Antonyms apt, brainy, bright, brilliant, clever, fast, hyperintelligent, intelligent, keen, nimble, quick, quick-witted, sharp, sharp-witted, smart, supersmart, ultrasmart