different between dull vs indifferent

dull

English

Alternative forms

  • dul, dulle (all obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English dull, dul (also dyll, dill, dwal), from Old English dol (dull, foolish, erring, heretical; foolish, silly; presumptuous), from Proto-Germanic *dulaz, a variant of *dwalaz (stunned, mad, foolish, misled), from Proto-Indo-European *d?wel-, *d?ewel- (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).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /d?l/
    • (Canada) IPA(key): /d?l/, /d?l/, /d??/
  • (US)
  • Rhymes: -?l

Adjective

dull (comparative duller, superlative dullest)

  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.
    a dull fire or lamp;? a dull red or yellow;? a dull mirror
    • A great bargain also had been the excellent Axminster carpet which covered the floor; as, again, the arm-chair in which Bunting now sat forward, staring into the dull, small fire.
  4. Not bright or intelligent; stupid; having slow understanding.
  5. Sluggish, listless.
    • This people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing.
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, Faerie Queene
      O, help my weak wit and sharpen my dull tongue.
  6. Cloudy, overcast.
  7. Insensible; unfeeling.
    • Think me not / So dull a devil to forget the loss / Of such a matchless wife.
  8. Heavy; lifeless; inert.
    • c. 1857', Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Table-Talk
      As turning the logs will make a dull fire burn, so changes of study a dull brain.
  9. (of pain etc) Not intense; felt indistinctly or only slightly.
    Pressing on the bruise produces a dull pain.
  10. (of a noise or sound) Not clear, muffled.

Synonyms

  • See also Thesaurus:boring
  • See also Thesaurus:stupid
  • (not shiny): lackluster, matte

Antonyms

  • bright
  • intelligent
  • sharp

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

dull (third-person singular simple present dulls, present participle dulling, simple past and past participle dulled)

  1. (transitive) To render dull; to remove or blunt an edge or something that was sharp.
    Years of misuse have dulled the tools.
    • 1623, Francis Bacon, A Discourse of a War with Spain
      This [] dulled their swords.
  2. (transitive) To soften, moderate or blunt; to make dull, stupid, or sluggish; to stupefy.
    He drinks to dull the pain.
    • 1850, Richard Chenevix Trench, Notes on the Miracles of Our Lord
      Use and custom have so dulled our eyes.
  3. (intransitive) To lose a sharp edge; to become dull.
    A razor will dull with use.
  4. To render dim or obscure; to sully; to tarnish.

Synonyms

  • dullen

Translations

References

  • dull in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
  • dull in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

  • ULDL

Welsh

Etymology

Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dey?- (to show, point out).

Pronunciation

  • (North Wales) IPA(key): /d???/
  • (South Wales) IPA(key): /d??/

Noun

dull m (plural dulliau)

  1. method

Mutation

Further reading

  • R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present) , “dull”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

References

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indifferent

English

Etymology

From Old French indifferent, from Latin indifferens.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /?n?d?f.??nt/, /?n?d?f.?.??nt/
  • Hyphenation: in?dif?fer?ent

Adjective

indifferent (comparative more indifferent, superlative most indifferent)

  1. Not caring or concerned; uninterested, apathetic.
    • 1816, Jane Austen, Emma, Volume 2, Chapter 16,[1]
      “I must not hope to be ever situated as you are, in the midst of every dearest connexion, and therefore I cannot expect that simply growing older should make me indifferent about letters.”
      Indifferent! Oh! no—I never conceived you could become indifferent. Letters are no matter of indifference; they are generally a very positive curse.”
    • 1933, George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London, Chapter 3,[2]
      When you have a hundred francs in the world you are liable to the most craven panics. When you have only three francs you are quite indifferent; for three francs will feed you till tomorrow, and you cannot think further than that. You are bored, but you are not afraid.
  2. Indicating or reflecting a lack of concern or care.
    • 1886, Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Chapter 25,[3]
      Donald appeared not to see her at all, and answered her wise little remarks with curtly indifferent monosyllables []
    • 1990, J. M. Coetzee, Age of Iron, London: Secker & Warburg, p. 33,
      ‘Wonderful, Florence,’ I said, producing the ritual phrases: ‘I don’t know what I would do without you.’ But of course I do know. I would sink into the indifferent squalor of old age.
  3. Mediocre (usually used negatively in modern usage).
    • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, Dublin: John Smith, Volume 2, Book 10, Chapter 9, p. 275,[4]
      When Mrs. Honour had made her Report from the Landlord, Sophia, with much Difficulty, procured some indifferent Horses, which brought her to the Inn, where Jones had been confined rather by the Misfortune of meeting with a Surgeon, than by having met with a broken Head.
    • 1826, Walter Scott, Woodstock, Edinburgh: Archibald Constable, Volume I, Chapter 3, p. 84,[5]
      [] the state-rooms are unaired, and in indifferent order, since of late years.
    • 1965, Muriel Spark, The Mandelbaum Gate, Part 2, p. 252,[6]
      Suddenly Barbara remembered the party where she had first met Ruth Gardnor with her husband. The night of the dinner party. And the cello: it had been an indifferent performance.
  4. Having no preference or bias, being impartial.
    • 1713, Joseph Addison, Cato, a Tragedy, London: J. Tonson, Act V, Scene 1, p. 57,[7]
      [] Let Guilt or Fear
      Disturb Man’s Rest: Cato knows neither of ’em,
      Indiff’rent in his Choice to sleep or die.
    • 1933, H. G. Wells, The Shape of Things to Come, Book 3, Part 7,[8]
      The scientific worker aims at knowledge and is quite indifferent whether people like or dislike the knowledge he produces.
  5. Not making a difference; without significance or importance.
    • c. 1599, William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene 3,[9]
      [] But I am arm’d,
      And dangers are to me indifferent.
    • 1650, Jeremy Taylor, “Of Contentedness” in The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living, 8th edition, London: Richard Royston, 1668, Chapter 2, Section 6, p. 118,[10]
      [] every thing in the world is indifferent but sin.
    • 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, Boston: Ticknor, Reed & Fields, p. 162,[11]
      His gestures, his gait, his grizzled beard, his slightest and most indifferent acts, the very fashion of his garments, were odious in the clergyman’s sight;
    • 1956, Mary Renault, The Last of the Wine, New York: Modern Library, Chapter 28, p. 374,[12]
      We talked of indifferent things, and watched the juggler who was tossing torches in the Stadium, for twilight was falling.
  6. (mechanics) Being in the state of neutral equilibrium.
  7. (obsolete) Not different, matching.
    • c. 1593, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew, Act IV, Scene 1,[13]
      [] let their heads be sleekly comb’d, their blue coats brush’d and their garters of an indifferent knit

Related terms

  • indifference
  • indifferency (obsolete)
  • indifferentism
  • indifferently

Translations

Noun

indifferent (plural indifferents)

  1. A person who is indifferent or apathetic.

Adverb

indifferent

  1. (obsolete) To some extent, in some degree (intermediate between very and not at all); moderately, tolerably, fairly.

Usage notes

  • Now obsolete, but very common c. 1600-1730.

References

  • John A. Simpson and Edward S. C. Weiner, editors (1989) , “indifferent”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, ?ISBN

Middle French

Adjective

indifferent m (feminine singular indifferente, masculine plural indifferents, feminine plural indifferentes)

  1. indifferent; apathetic

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