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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
Candace Oehler, Forbes.com, 17 May 2025
Jenna Ortega costars as an obsessed fan in co-writer/director Trey Edwards Shults' lackluster drama.
—Jordan Hoffman, EW.com, 15 May 2025
However, Sony’s outlook for the current financial year ending in March 2026 was lackluster.
—Dylan Butts, CNBC, 14 May 2025
Andrei Svechnikov brilliance After a hat trick in Game 4, Svechnikov was one of the Carolina players generating chances during the team’s lackluster first period.
—Peter Baugh, New York Times, 30 Apr. 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 21 May. 2025.
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lackluster
adjective
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