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Lackluster may describe things that are dull, but the word itself is no yawn. In its earliest uses in the early 17th century, lackluster (also spelled lacklustre) usually described eyes that were dull or lacking in brightness, as in “a lackluster stare.” Later, it came to describe other things whose sheen had been removed; Charles Dickens, in his 1844 novel Martin Chuzzlewit, writes of the faded image of the dragon on the sign outside a village alehouse: “many a wintry storm of rain, snow, sleet, and hail, had changed his colour from a gaudy blue to a faint lack-lustre shade of grey.” These days lackluster is broadly used to describe anything blah, from a spiritless sensation to a humdrum hump day.
Examples of lackluster in a Sentence
Charles Singh, USA Today, 13 Feb. 2026
But since then, barring the odd family update (his second daughter was born in 2025) and occasional tribute to a deceased Harry Potter co-star, his grid has been almost charmingly lackluster.
—Alex Ritman, Variety, 13 Feb. 2026
Bowing to popular demand, Fennell’s lackluster film doesn’t really bother with the stylistic flourishes of the source — this is really just the Cathy and Heathcliffe show, two awful people competing to destroy each other and threatening to take us to hell with them into the bargain.
—Damon Wise, Deadline, 11 Feb. 2026
While the team fell short of an American League East crown before putting up a lackluster fight in the ALDS last year, the Yanks also boasted baseball’s top offense and tied Toronto for the AL’s best record.
—Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 11 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for lackluster
Cite this Entry
“Lackluster.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lackluster. Accessed 20 Feb. 2026.
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lackluster
adjective
