From Middle English dull, dul (also dyll, dill, dwal), from Old English dol (“dull, foolish, erring, heretical; foolish, silly; presumptuous”), from Proto-West Germanic *dol, from Proto-Germanic *dulaz, from earlier *dwulaz, a variant of *dwalaz (“stunned, mad, foolish, misled”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰwel-, *dʰewel- (“to dim, dull, cloud, make obscure, swirl, whirl”). Cognate with Scots dull, doll (“slow to understand or hear, deaf, dull”), North Frisian dol (“rash, unthinking, giddy, flippant”), Dutch dol (“crazy, mad, insane”), Low German dul, dol (“mad, silly, stupid, fatuous”), German toll (“crazy, mad, wild, fantastic”), Danish dval (“foolish, absurd”), Icelandic dulur (“secretive, silent”), West-Flemish dul (angry, furious).
He sat through the dull lecture and barely stayed awake.
"You are very dull this morning, Sheriff," said the youngest daughter of the house, who, being the baby and pretty, had grown pettishly privileged in speech.1895, S. R. Crockett, A Cry Across the Black Water:
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But there we were given only the dullest, driest, pemmicanised forms like The Student's Hume, Once I had a hundred pages of The Student's Hume as a holiday task.2012, Winston S. Churchill, Martin Gilbert, Churchill: The Power of Words, page 14:
3
Not shiny; having a matte finish or no particular luster or brightness.
Choose a dull finish to hide fingerprints.
a dull fire or lamp; a dull red or yellow; a dull mirror
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A great bargain also had been the excellent Axminster carpet which covered the floor; as, again, the arm-chair in which Bunting now sat forward, staring into the dull, small fire.1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter I, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, →OCLC; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [1933], →OCLC, page 0016:
The young bird had the plumage of the saddleback, not the even chestnut of the jackbird, although its plumage was rather duller than that of the adult.1959, Robert Adams Wilson, Bird Islands of New Zealand, page 67:
4
Not bright or intelligent; stupid; having slow understanding.
She is not bred so dull but she can learn.c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
dull at classical learning1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 5, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:
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She paused and took a defiant breath. ‘If you don't believe me, I can't help it. But I'm not a liar.’ ¶ ‘No,’ said Luke, grinning at her. ‘You're not dull enough! […] What about the kid's clothes? I don't suppose they were anything to write home about, but didn't you keep anything? A bootee or a bit of embroidery or anything at all?’1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 15, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
5
Sluggish, listless.
This people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 13:xiii:
O, help my weak wit and sharpen my dull tongue.1590, Edmund Spenser, “(please specify the book)”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
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[…] St. Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable parish in the East End of London. Close-packed, crushed by the buttressed height of the railway viaduct, rendered airless by huge walls of factories, it at once banished lively interest from a stranger's mind and left only a dull oppression of the spirit.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
6
Bored, depressed, down.
I felt dull all day.
7
Cloudy, overcast.
It's a dull day.
8
Insensible; unfeeling.
Think me not / So dull a devil to forget the loss / Of such a matchless wife.1616–1619 (first performance), John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, Nathan Field, “The Knight of Malta”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act V, scene ii:
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Heavy; lifeless; inert.
the dull earthc. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:
c. 1857', Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Table-Talk As turning the logs will make a dull fire burn, so changes of study a dull brain.
10
Of pain etc Not intense; felt indistinctly or only slightly.
From Middle English dull, dul (also dyll, dill, dwal), from Old English dol (“dull, foolish, erring, heretical; foolish, silly; presumptuous”), from Proto-West Germanic *dol, from Proto-Germanic *dulaz, from earlier *dwulaz, a variant of *dwalaz (“stunned, mad, foolish, misled”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰwel-, *dʰewel- (“to dim, dull, cloud, make obscure, swirl, whirl”). Cognate with Scots dull, doll (“slow to understand or hear, deaf, dull”), North Frisian dol (“rash, unthinking, giddy, flippant”), Dutch dol (“crazy, mad, insane”), Low German dul, dol (“mad, silly, stupid, fatuous”), German toll (“crazy, mad, wild, fantastic”), Danish dval (“foolish, absurd”), Icelandic dulur (“secretive, silent”), West-Flemish dul (angry, furious).
1
To render dull; to remove or blunt an edge or something that was sharp.
Years of misuse have dulled the tools.
This […] dulled their swords.a. 1627 (date written), Francis [Bacon], “Considerations Touching a Warre with Spaine. […]”, in William Rawley, editor, Certaine Miscellany Works of the Right Honourable Francis Lo. Verulam, Viscount S. Alban. […], London: […] I. Hauiland for Humphrey Robinson, […], published 1629, →OCLC:
2
To soften, moderate or blunt; to make dull, stupid, or sluggish; to stupefy.
He drinks to dull the pain.
Those [drugs] she has / Will stupefy and dull the sense a while.1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene vi]:
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Use and custom have so dulled our eyes.1850, Richard Chenevix Trench, Notes on the Miracles of Our Lord:
Play fair, boys. No dynamite nor "dulling." The deadly "dull," or wire noose, is a fatal weapon against a trout.1903, Field and Stream, page 66:
A horse with long, stiff hair in the tail was selected. […] a quick jerk [...] secured the material for a "dull." […] Then the "dull" was ready for use. […] the noose [was] slipped over the head to the gills and then with a quick jerk the sucker was dulled and pulled out of the water. Generally the dull held the fish and it was loosened and dropped on the bank but sometimes it was thrown out of the water but then slipped loose from the dull and fell on one of the banks or, worse luck, into the water. […]1929 June 1, “Notes from a Farmer's Experience”, in Southern Agriculturist, volume 59, page 8:
dull
verb
Etymology Probably from Irish dul, dol (“loop, noose, snare”).
I hope that the barbarous practice called dulling has gone out of fashion.1880 March 11, Forest and Stream:
Play fair, boys. No dynamite nor "dulling." The deadly "dull," or wire noose, is a fatal weapon against a trout.1903, Field and Stream, page 66:
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In Irish-English, “dulling for trout” is well known,—the fish as they lie still in a pool are snared with a noose of horsehair.1915, “Clare Island Survey: A Biological Survey of Clare Island”, in Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, page 21:
While I was having my fishing experience on a West Virginia stream I did not realize that it was unique so far as average American boys are concerned. In those boyhood days we went "dulling" for suckers in the small creek that crossed my father's farm. […] To dull suckers the water had to be clear […] the noose [was] slipped over the head to the gills and then with a quick jerk the sucker was dulled and pulled out of the water. […] At any rate my nephews have not practiced dulling suckers to anything like the extent that their father and uncle did.1929 June 1, “Notes from a Farmer's Experience”, in Southern Agriculturist, volume 59, page 8: