Dull (?), a. [Compar.Duller (?); superl.Dullest.] [AS. dol foolish; akin to gedwelan to err, D. dol mad, dwalen to wander, err, G. toll mad, Goth. dwals foolish, stupid, cf. Gr. � turbid, troubled, Skr. dhvr to cause to fall. Cf. Dolt, Dwale, Dwell, Fraud.] 1. Slow of understanding; wanting readiness of apprehension; stupid; doltish; blockish. “Dull at classical learning.” Thackeray.
She is not bred so dull but she can learn. Shak.
2. Slow in action; sluggish; unready; awkward.
This people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing. Matt. xiii. 15.
O, help my weak wit and sharpen my dull tongue. Spenser.
3. Insensible; unfeeling.
Think me not
So dull a devil to forget the loss
Of such a matchless wife. Beau. & Fl.
4. Not keen in edge or point; lacking sharpness; blunt. “Thy scythe is dull.” Herbert.
5. Not bright or clear to the eye; wanting in liveliness of color or luster; not vivid; obscure; dim; as, a dull fire or lamp; a dull red or yellow; a dull mirror.
6. Heavy; gross; cloggy; insensible; spiritless; lifeless; inert. “The dull earth.” Shak.
As turning the logs will make a dull fire burn, so changes of study a dull brain. Longfellow.
7. Furnishing little delight, spirit, or variety; uninteresting; tedious; cheerless; gloomy; melancholy; depressing; as, a dull story or sermon; a dull occupation or period; hence, cloudy; overcast; as, a dull day.
Along life's dullest, dreariest walk. Keble.
Syn. — Lifeless; inanimate; dead; stupid; doltish; heavy; sluggish; sleepy; drowsy; gross; cheerless; tedious; irksome; dismal; dreary; clouded; tarnished; obtuse. See Lifeless.