# dull

> English word · Adjective · IPA /dʌl/ · frequency rank #7,788

## Definitions
1. Lacking the ability to cut easily; not sharp.
2. Boring; not exciting or interesting.
3. Not shiny; having a matte finish or no particular luster or brightness.
4. Not bright or intelligent; stupid; having slow understanding.
5. Sluggish, listless.
6. Bored, depressed, down.
7. Cloudy, overcast.
8. Insensible; unfeeling.
9. Heavy; lifeless; inert.
10. Not intense; felt indistinctly or only slightly.
11. Not clear, muffled. (of a noise or sound)

## Etymology
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).

## Easily confused with
- **duo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dull-vs-duo)
- **dun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dull-vs-dun)
- **dum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dull-vs-dum)
- **dup** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dull-vs-dup)
- **dur** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dull-vs-dur)
- **duty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dull-vs-duty)
- **dumb** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dull-vs-dumb)
- **dust** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dull-vs-dust)
- **dump** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dull-vs-dump)
- **Dunn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dull-vs-dunn)
- **dunk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dull-vs-dunk)
- **duly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dull-vs-duly)
- **dusk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dull-vs-dusk)
- **dune** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dull-vs-dune)
- **dung** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dull-vs-dung)
- **duma** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dull-vs-duma)
- **dupe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dull-vs-dupe)
- **dura** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dull-vs-dura)
- **dwell** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dull-vs-dwell)
- **Duval** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dull-vs-duval)

## Common misspellings (4)
`ddull`, `dlul`, `dul`, `udll`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/dull