- 1 not interesting or exciting synonym dreary Life in a small town could be deadly dull. The countryside was flat, dull and uninteresting. The first half of the game was pretty dull. There's never a dull moment when John's around. Synonymsboringdull tediousThese words all describe a subject, activity, person or place that is not interesting or exciting.boring not interesting; making you feel tired and impatient:He’s such a boring man! She found her job very boring.dull not interesting or exciting:Life in a small town could be deadly dull.tedious lasting or taking too long and not interesting, so that you feel bored and impatient:The journey soon became tedious.Patterns to be boring/dull/tedious for somebody boring/dull/tedious subjects/books boring/dull/tedious jobs/work/games a boring/dull place/man/woman/person deadly boring/dull Oxford Collocations Dictionary verbsappear, be, look, … adverbextremely, fairly, very, … See full entry See related entries: Boredom light/colours
- 2 not bright or shiny a dull grey colour dull, lifeless hair Her eyes were dull. weather
- 3 not bright, with a lot of clouds synonym overcast It was a dull, grey day. sounds
- 4not clear or loud The gates shut behind him with a dull thud. pain
- 5not very severe, but continuous a dull ache/pain person
- 6slow in understanding synonym stupid a dull pupil trade
- 7(especially North American English) not busy; slow Don't sell into a dull market. Word OriginOld English dol ‘stupid’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch dol ‘crazy’ and German toll ‘mad, fantastic, wonderful’.Extra examples The long lectures made the afternoon dull. The movie was long and deadly dull. The work gets a bit dull at times. He is the author of several dull novels. Her eyes were dull with dark shadows beneath them. The blood stained the grass a dull red colour. The fire died down to a dull glow. The town seemed deserted in the dull afternoon light. There’s never a dull moment when John’s around. We’ve had a dull start to the season.Idioms
boring
(saying) it is not healthy to spend all your time working; you need to relax too
extremely boring I always found history as dull as ditchwater. More Like ThisSimiles in idioms (as) bald as a coot, (as) blind as a bat, (as) bright as a button, (as) bold as brass, as busy as a bee, as clean as a whistle, (as) dead as a/the dodo, (as) deaf as a post, (as) dull as ditchwater, (as) fit as a fiddle, as flat as a pancake, (as) good as gold, (as) mad as a hatter/a March hare, (as) miserable/ugly as sin, as old as the hills, (as) pleased as Punch, as pretty as a picture, (as) regular as clockwork, (as) quick as a flash, (as) safe as houses, (as) sound as a bell, (as) steady as a rock, (as) thick as two short planks, (as) tough as old bootsSee worksheet.
Check pronunciation: dull
