dull
adjective /dʌl/
/dʌl/
(comparative duller, superlative dullest)
Idioms - 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.
Synonyms boringboring- dull
- tedious
- 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.
- 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
Extra ExamplesTopics Feelingsb2- 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.
- We've had a dull start to the season.
- There's never a dull moment in this job.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- appear
- be
- look
- …
- extremely
- fairly
- very
- …
- not bright or shiny
- a dull grey colour
- dull, lifeless hair
- Her eyes were dull.
- The fire died down to a dull glow.
- not bright, with a lot of clouds synonym overcast
- It was a dull, grey day.
- The town seemed deserted in the dull afternoon light.
- not clear or loud
- The gates shut behind him with a dull thud.
- not very severe, but continuous
- a dull ache/pain
- slow in understanding synonym stupid
- a dull pupil
- (especially North American English) not busy; slow
- Don't sell into a dull market.
boring
light/colours
weather
sounds
pain
person
trade
Word OriginOld English dol ‘stupid’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch dol ‘crazy’ and German toll ‘mad, fantastic, wonderful’.
Idioms
all work and no play (makes Jack a dull boy)
- (saying) it is not healthy to spend all your time working; you need to relax too
(as) dull as ditchwater (British English)
(US English (as) dull as dishwater)
- (informal) extremely boring
- I always found history as dull as ditchwater.
More Like This Similes in idiomsSimiles 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/proud 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 boots