1
as in reducing
to reduce or weaken in strength or feeling
the aspirin dulled his headache and he was soon feeling better
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in bleaching
to make white or lighter by removing color
the painting's once-vivid colors have been dulled by time
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in deadening
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Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of dulling
Emilee Coblentz, Outside, 2 Sep. 2025
Many parents struggle with how to support adult children without dulling their drive or setting unrealistic expectations.
—Bob Sponseller, The Enquirer, 26 Aug. 2025
While opioids primarily work by dulling sensations in the brain, the new drug, in fifty milligram oral tablets, is reported to reduce pain by targeting a pain-signaling pathway involving a specific sodium channel in the peripheral nervous system, before the pain signals reach the brain.
—Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN Money, 26 Aug. 2025
Astaxanthin protects skin against dulling environmental aggressors but it’s also packed with various antioxidant vitamins (C and E), highly moisturizing squalane, redness-reducing centella asiatica, exfoliating lactic acid and CoQ10, another antioxidant with powerful protective properties.
—Jacqueline Kilikita, Refinery29, 17 Oct. 2024
Adjective
Soaring temperatures and drought also sends trees into stress, dulling the experience of fall foliage.
—Emilee Coblentz, Outside, 2 Sep. 2025
Many parents struggle with how to support adult children without dulling their drive or setting unrealistic expectations.
—Bob Sponseller, The Enquirer, 26 Aug. 2025
While opioids primarily work by dulling sensations in the brain, the new drug, in fifty milligram oral tablets, is reported to reduce pain by targeting a pain-signaling pathway involving a specific sodium channel in the peripheral nervous system, before the pain signals reach the brain.
—Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN Money, 26 Aug. 2025
Astaxanthin protects skin against dulling environmental aggressors but it’s also packed with various antioxidant vitamins (C and E), highly moisturizing squalane, redness-reducing centella asiatica, exfoliating lactic acid and CoQ10, another antioxidant with powerful protective properties.
—Jacqueline Kilikita, Refinery29, 17 Oct. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dulling
Verb
-
The French prime minister was widely expected to lose the motion after failing to win support from political rivals on both the right and left for 2026 budget plans aimed at reducing the country's yawning budget deficit.—
Ganesh Rao,Holly Ellyatt,
CNBC,
9 Sep. 2025
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At Tufts University, scientists have developed a new drug that aims to boost weight loss while also reducing the nausea, muscle loss and weight regain associated with popular GLP-1 medications.—
Melissa Rudy,
FOXNews.com,
8 Sep. 2025
Verb
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For example, coral reefs are bleaching more often and dying due to ocean warming and acidification, undermining fisheries, marine biodiversity and economic sectors such as tourism.—
Lauren Gifford,
Space.com,
25 Aug. 2025
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The pic also showed off Jennifer Aniston’s money piece highlights, the face-framing way to give yourself a bit of a blonde glow without bleaching your whole head, sort of the way a ring light illuminates you from the front.—
Elizabeth Logan,
Glamour,
19 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
For now at least, that reality isn’t blunting the temporary ardor for counter-attack.—
Philip Elliott,
Time,
4 Aug. 2025
-
Almost 12 million lower-income Americans would lose their health insurance by 2034, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), blunting the significant coverage gains made under the ACA.—
Nathaniel Weixel,
The Hill,
4 July 2025
Verb
-
But the data shows the dream is fading.—
Frank Holmes,
Forbes.com,
2 Sep. 2025
-
Now go claim the best Labor Day clothing sales before they—and summer itself—set like the fading sun.—
Kelsey Stewart,
Glamour,
1 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Some critics and documentary filmmakers say that mandate is reductive and numbing.—
Michael Powell,
New York Times,
25 Sep. 2022
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Aside from being scientifically fascinating, the special effect of these peppercorns is also a key component of Sichuan cuisine’s greatest gift to the culinary world, a numbing and spicy flavor profile known as málà.—
Chala Tyson Tshitundu,
Bon Appétit,
29 Sep. 2021
Verb
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Horror of this scale has the effect of deadening words, making stories of the most unimaginable violence land with a dull thud.—
Jack Sheehan
September 4,
Literary Hub,
4 Sep. 2025
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The tires also contain a sound-deadening foam that contributes to the Optiq’s quiet cabin.—
Mark Phelan,
USA Today,
31 Mar. 2025
Verb
-
Support her post-grad skin with brightening serums, refillable lipsticks, and edge-control that actually holds during interviews and celebrations.—
Larry Stansbury,
Essence,
5 Sep. 2025
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The pairing glimmers low in the east an hour before sunrise, fading quickly in brightening twilight.—
Jamie Carter,
Forbes.com,
1 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Perry, who died at age 54 from the acute effects of the anesthetic ketamine, with drowning a contributing factor, previously detailed how his friends helped him in his memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.—
Carly Thomas,
HollywoodReporter,
11 Aug. 2025
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That’s either an epidural, which involves receiving anesthetic meds via a catheter (a.k.a. tiny tube) inserted next to your spinal cord, or a spinal block, which is a single shot of numbing drugs directly into your cerebrospinal fluid.—
Erica Sloan,
SELF,
16 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dulling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dulling. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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