dully
(adverb) without liveliness; “she nodded her head dully”
dully
(adverb) without luster or shine; “the light shone dully through the haze”; “unpolished buttons glinted dully”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
dully (comparative more dully, superlative most dully)
In a dull manner; without liveliness; without lustre.
Source: Wiktionary
Dul"ly, adv.
Definition: In a dull manner; stupidly; slowly; sluggishly; without life or spirit. Supinely calm and dully innocent. G. Lyttelton.
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
29 March 2025
(adjective) without care or thought for others; “the thoughtless saying of a great princess on being informed that the people had no bread; ‘Let them eat cake’”
Coffee dates back to the 9th century. Goat herders in Ethiopia noticed their goats seem to be “dancing” after eating berries from a particular shrub. They reported it to the local monastery, and a monk made a drink out of it. The monk found out he felt energized and kept him awake at night. That’s how the first coffee drink was born.
