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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
Chloe Taylor,jenni Reid, CNBC, 22 Aug. 2025
Despite a lackluster rookie campaign, most drafters spent the offseason backing up Achane with second-year fourth-rounder Jaylen Wright out of Tennessee.
—John Laghezza, New York Times, 22 Aug. 2025
Yet while anger over youth violence and other issues may have prompted the mayor not to run again in Gilbert, voters did not punish other incumbents for what many felt was a lackluster town response.
—Joanna Allhands, AZCentral.com, 22 Aug. 2025
Lane is expected to declare for the draft after the season and would be a huge boost to what is a bit of a lackluster receiver room.
—Andrew Wright, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for lackluster
Cite this Entry
“Lackluster.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lackluster. Accessed 31 Aug. 2025.
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lackluster
adjective
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