dull
adjective · verb
Simple meaning
Lacking the ability to cut easily.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
duhlIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈdʌl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Not having a sharp edge or point
“The knife was too dull to be of any use.”
Boring; not exciting or interesting.
Lacking the ability to cut easily; not sharp.
Not bright or intelligent; stupid; having slow understanding.
Sluggish, listless.
Not keenly felt
verb
transitive
To soften, moderate or blunt; to make dull, stupid, or sluggish; to stupefy.
“Too much cutting dulls the knife's edge.”
Become dull or lusterless in appearance; lose shine or brightness
“The varnished table top dulled with time.”
Make dull in appearance
transitive
To render dull; to remove or blunt an edge or something that was sharp.
intransitive
To lose a sharp edge; to become dull.
To render dim or obscure; to sully; to tarnish.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Lacking the ability to cut easily; not sharp.
Used this way, dull is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Not having a sharp edge or pointadjective
“The knife was too dull to be of any use.”
Soften / makeverb
“Too much cutting dulls the knife's edge.”
Becomeverb
“The varnished table top dulled with time.”
More ways to use dull
- “The knife was too dull to be of any use.”adjective
- “He was so dull at parties.”adjective
- “Too much cutting dulls the knife's edge.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.