| 释义 |
dullness, dulness|ˈdʌlnɪs|
[f. dull a. + -ness.
The former spelling is more in accordance with general analogies, as in smallness, illness, stillness, drollness, though the latter has hitherto been more prevalent.]
The state or quality of being dull.
1. Slowness or obtuseness of intellect; stupidity.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xii. (1495) 118 It is a token of dulnesse and of slowe wytte. 1483Cath. Angl. 111/1 A Dullnes, ebitudo. 1561T. Norton Calvin's Inst. i. 25 Possessed with dullnesse, yea ouerwhelmed with grosse ignorance. 1651Hobbes Leviath. i. viii. 32 A slow Imagination, maketh that Defect..which is commonly called Dulnesse. 1728Pope Dunc. i. 11 Dulness o'er all possess'd her ancient right, Daughter of Chaos and eternal Night. 1881Jowett Thucyd. I. 190 Dulness and modesty are a more useful combination than cleverness and licence.
2. Sluggishness, inertness, inactivity; drowsiness.
1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 128 b, Theyr ende is drynesse of deuocyon, dulnesse of spiryte. 1610Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 185 Thou art inclinde to sleepe: 'tis a good dulnesse, And giue it way. 1665Glanvill Scepsis Sci. 75 Such a Dulness and inactivity of humor. 1852Grote Greece ii. lxxii. IX. 309 From the general dullness of character pervading Spartan citizens.
3. Gloominess of mind or spirits: now esp. as arising from want of interest.
c1369Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 879 Dulnesse was of hir a-drad. c1400Destr. Troy 9854 Lette no dolnes you drepe, ne your dede let. 1500–20Dunbar Poems lxxviii. 10 My heid..Dullit in dulness and distress. c1600Shakes. Sonn. lvi, Do not kill The spirit of love with a perpetual dullness. 1654Whitlock Zootomia 32 Mirth endeth in Dulnesse, if not Sadnesse.
4. Irksomeness; uninteresting character or quality.
1751Johnson Rambler No. 141 ⁋5 A man of parts, who wanted nothing but the dulness of a scholar. 1781Cowper Conversat. 609 Grave without dulness. 1871L. Stephen Playgr. Eur. x. (1894) 231 The deadly dulness of the grounds that surround a first-class family mansion.
5. Want of sensibility or acuteness (of the senses); want of sharpness, clearness, brightness, distinctness, or intensity (of physical qualities); bluntness, dimness, etc.: see dull a. 2, 6, 7.
c1440Promp. Parv. 135/1 Dulnesse of egge, obtusitas. 1567J. Maplet Gr. Forest 3 b, Through y⊇ dulnesse of his owne colour. 1833J. Rennie Alph. Angling 50 Sport..depending..on the brightness or dulness of the water. |