DULLER
Etymology
Adjective
duller
comparative form of dull
Noun
duller (plural dullers)
One who, or that which, dulls.
Source: Wiktionary
Dull"er, n.
Definition: One who, or that which, dulls.
DULL
Dull, a. [Compar. Duller; superl. Dullest.] Etym: [AS. dol foolish;
akin to gedwelan to err, D. dol mad, dwalen to wander, err, G. toll
mad, Goth. dwals foolish, stupid, cf. Gr. 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.
Dull, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Duller; p. pr. & vb. n. Dulling.]
1. To deprive of sharpness of edge or point. "This . . . dulled their
swords." Bacon.
Borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. Shak.
2. To make dull, stupid, or sluggish; to stupefy, as the senses, the
feelings, the perceptions, and the like.
Those [drugs] she has Will stupefy and dull the sense a while. Shak.
Use and custom have so dulled our eyes. Trench.
3. To render dim or obscure; to sully; to tarnish. "Dulls the
mirror." Bacon.
4. To deprive of liveliness or activity; to render heavy; to make
inert; to depress; to weary; to sadden.
Attention of mind . . . wasted or dulled through continuance. Hooker.
Dull, v. i.
Definition: To become dull or stupid. Rom. of R.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition