1
as in blunt
lacking sharpness of edge or point
the dull knife just bounced off the skin of the tomato without cutting it
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in boring
causing weariness, restlessness, or lack of interest
a dull dance recital that made us wish that we were someplace else
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3
as in hazy
covered over by clouds
dull skies plagued most of our vacation days at the beach
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4
as in dulled
lacking a surface luster or gloss
a good polish should restore that car's dull finish
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5
as in faded
lacking intensity of color
that canvas shirt should fade to an attractive, dull red over time
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6
as in dumb
not having or showing an ability to absorb ideas readily
the importance of the discovery was lost on the dull minds of his colleagues
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7
as in soft
not loud in pitch or volume
a dull roar from the distance
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8
as in sleepy
slow to move or act
a dull market for luxury goods this holiday season
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1
as in to blunt
to reduce or weaken in strength or feeling
the aspirin dulled his headache and he was soon feeling better
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2
as in to bleach
to make white or lighter by removing color
the painting's once-vivid colors have been dulled by time
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of dull
Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 25 Feb. 2026
There’s never a dull day in the world of the Carolina Panthers.
—Mike Kaye, Charlotte Observer, 25 Feb. 2026
Gilberto Lopes, STAT, 12 Feb. 2026
The repetition dulls whatever voltage the pairing once carried.
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 12 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dull
Adjective
Add in steam and grease from daily cooking and holiday feasts, and those dull cabinets could probably use a refresh.
—Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 25 Feb. 2026
There’s never a dull day in the world of the Carolina Panthers.
—Mike Kaye, Charlotte Observer, 25 Feb. 2026
Verb
His muscles waste, his mind dulls, his body collapses inward until only a voice remains, thin and disembodied.
—Gilberto Lopes, STAT, 12 Feb. 2026
The repetition dulls whatever voltage the pairing once carried.
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 12 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dull
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dull
Adjective
-
Much of the rest, as the months and years passed, consisted of nothing more than blunt, basic, run-of-the-mill boredom.—
Daniel Smith,
The Atlantic,
27 Feb. 2026
-
On Friday, Bella Hadid stepped out in Milan to promote her new collaboration with Miss Sixty, rocking blunt platinum bangs reminiscent of the fictional pop star.—
Hannah Malach,
InStyle,
27 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
This outfit, one of Bessette-Kennedy’s most famous, manages to turn what could feel boring—a plain khaki midiskirt—into a genuine statement.—
Jake Henry Smith,
Glamour,
27 Feb. 2026
-
Children, that great adventure, boring?—
Daniel Smith,
The Atlantic,
27 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The laws around songs being used at political rallies are hazy and realistically the most a musician or songwriter can do is demand for the use to cease, although the user in question seems to be under little legal obligation to comply.—
Jem Aswad,
Variety,
26 Feb. 2026
-
That all of this is set around a rather hazy, cataclysmic time that gets relegated to the side lends it even more of a haunting power that grabs hold of you.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
25 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Before the third siren at seven o’clock Chitol parked his bicycle alongside hundreds of others like it, his identified by a faded yellow piece of his wife’s old sari around the handlebars, which doubled as a duster.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
19 Feb. 2026
-
The trembling bass mixed with faded talk-raps (somewhere between fakemink’s blurry party reports and SoundCloud-era Nav’s fame-hungry melodrama) feels like listening to Mustard’s pop-rap formula from inside the club bathroom.—
Alphonse Pierre,
Pitchfork,
19 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Before, Tatum had only thought of himself as a dumb jock on the football team.—
Kamal Morgan,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
20 Feb. 2026
-
Hustling up the twisty Route 33 in California’s Ojai Valley, the C-HR felt responsive, but the lateral pitching at speed, coupled with a 4,300-pound curb weight, discourages you from carrying a dumb pace into corners.—
Adam Ismail,
The Drive,
18 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The material is a blend of viscose, polyester, and nylon that shoppers call surprisingly soft and stretchy.—
Olivia Young,
Travel + Leisure,
28 Feb. 2026
-
Creamy and soft, these shades aren't as stark as bright white and leave your nails looking clean while still feeling contemporary.—
Amanda Le,
InStyle,
27 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
But my interpreter and guide, Alex Kotchev, a Bulgarian who has spent more than two decades living and eating attentively in Sapporo, steered me instead to Menya Saimi, in a sleepy residential neighborhood a half hour's subway ride from the city center.—
Alex Halberstadt,
Condé Nast Traveler,
25 Feb. 2026
-
Rogan began the show in his customary posture of sleepy truculence.—
Tad Friend,
New Yorker,
23 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
But in the long run, that doesn’t do anything to dismantle networks of criminality or reduce the size of their operations.—
Angélica Durán-Martínez,
The Conversation,
24 Feb. 2026
-
Others have sought to use cloud seeding to disperse fog at airports, tackle air pollution, reduce hail damage or even to manipulate the weather for major events, such as the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.—
Sam Meredith,
CNBC,
24 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Dull.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dull. Accessed 2 Mar. 2026.
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