dullness

/ˈdʌl.nəs/

//ˈdʌl.nəs// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"dullness" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“dullness” is uncommon English (frequency #60,776 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#60,776
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The quality of being slow of understanding things.

Corpus desk

Index EN-dullness · dullness · English

dullness · rank #60,776 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #60,776
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH Duhamel

Nearest frequency peer: Duhamel (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “dullness”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “dullness” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for dullness
PropertyValue
Headworddullness
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈdʌl.nəs/
Letters8
Frequency rank#60,776
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “dullness” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).dullnessfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “Duhamel” (#60,775), “Dunmore” (#60,777), “dozer” (#60,774). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “dullness” is #60,776. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

dullness is uncommon English at frequency #60,776 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈdʌl.nəs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 7 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for dullness, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From dull + -ness. The correct English form is dullness, spelled D-U-L-L-N-E-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    The quality of being slow of understanding things.
  2. 2
    The quality of being uninteresting; boring; humorless or irksome.
  3. 3
    Lack of interest or excitement.
  4. 4
    The lack of visual brilliance; want of sheen.
  5. 5
    bluntness.
  6. 6
    The quality of not perceiving or kenning things distinctly.
  7. 7
    Drowsiness.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how dullness appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. If to raise malicious smiles at the infirmities or misfortunes of those who have never injured us be the province of wit or Humour, Heaven grant me a double Portion of Dullness—
  2. dullness of autumn

Etymology

From dull + -ness.

This word in other languages

obtusité(Français)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "dullness"?
"dullness" is spelled D-U-L-L-N-E-S-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈdʌl.nəs/.
What does "dullness" mean?
As a noun, "dullness" means: The quality of being slow of understanding things.
How do you pronounce "dullness"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "dullness" is /ˈdʌl.nəs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "dullness"?
From dull + -ness. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "dullness", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

dwarfism#60,778doggedly#60,771Eagleton#60,781enthalpy#60,792

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list