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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
Morgan Chittum, CNBC, 10 Apr. 2026
Is this a midnight movie worth rewatching, or just another lackluster project history should skip?
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 10 Apr. 2026
But their offense has been so unstoppable that their defense could afford to be lackluster, to a point.
—Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 9 Apr. 2026
Film output from Bad Robot has been lackluster.
—Joe Otterson, Variety, 8 Apr. 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 25 Apr. 2026.
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lackluster
adjective
