Dullness
['dʌlnɪs]
Definition
(noun.) without sharpness or clearness of edge or point; 'the dullness of the pencil made his writing illegible'.
(noun.) lack of sensibility; 'there was a dullness in his heart'; 'without him the dullness of her life crept into her work no matter how she tried to compartmentalize it.'.
(noun.) a lack of visual brightness; 'the brightness of the orange sky was reflected in the dullness of the orange sea'.
(noun.) the quality of lacking interestingness; 'the stories were of a dullness to bring a buffalo to its knees'.
(noun.) the quality of being slow to understand.
Checker: Prudence--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) The state of being dull; slowness; stupidity; heaviness; drowsiness; bluntness; obtuseness; dimness; want of luster; want of vividness, or of brightness.
Typist: Marion
Examples
- Always to be right, always to trample forward, and never to doubt, are not these the great qualities with which dullness takes the lead in the world? William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- The imperfections of his mind run parallel with those of his body, being a composition of spleen, dullness, ignorance, caprice, sensuality, and pride. Jonathan Swift. Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World.
- The Dedlock town house changes not externally, and hours pass before its exalted dullness is disturbed within. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- It's confoundedly dull, anyhow; New York is dying of dullness, Beaufort grumbled. Edith Wharton. The Age of Innocence.
- I noticed a curious dimness and dullness in her eyes--not as if she had been crying but as if she had been looking at something too long. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- Indeed it is not even an opinion, darling, for it is only a confession of my dullness. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- Dullness is as much produced within doors as without, by rain. Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
Checked by Cordelia