dullness

English

Alternative forms

• dulness

Etymology

From dull +‎ -ness.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdʌl.nəs/

• Audio (UK)

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Noun

dullness (usually uncountable, plural dullnesses)

1. The quality of being slow of understanding things; stupidity.
2. The quality of being uninteresting; boring or irksome.
3. Lack of interest or excitement.
4. The lack of visual brilliance; want of sheen.

   dullness of autumn

5. (of an edge) bluntness.
6. The quality of not perceiving or kenning things distinctly.

   dullness of sight, or of hearing

7. (archaic) Drowsiness.
   • c. 1610-11, William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act I scene ii^[1]:

     Prospero: […] Thou art inclin'd to sleep. 'Tis a good dulness, / And give it way— I know thou canst not choose.

Translations

quality of being slow to understand

• Finnish: tylsyys (fi)
• French: obtusité (fr) f
• Latvian: trulums m

• Romanian: obtuzitate (ro) f
• Russian: тупоумие (ru) n (tupoumije), ту́пость (ru) f (túpostʹ)

quality of being uninteresting

• Dutch: saaiheid (nl) f
• Finnish: tylsyys (fi), latteus (fi)

• Romanian: plictiseală (ro) f
• Russian: вя́лость (ru) f (vjálostʹ)

lack of visual brilliance

• Finnish: tylsyys (fi), tylsän näköisyys
• Latvian: blāvums m, nespodrums m

• Russian: ту́склость (ru) f (túsklostʹ), ма́товость (ru) f (mátovostʹ), нея́ркость (ru) f (nejárkostʹ)

bluntness of an edge

• Finnish: tylsyys (fi)
• Latvian: trulums m

• Russian: затупле́ние (ru) n (zatuplénije), туповатость (ru) f (tupovatostʹ)