different between dull vs slack

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

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /slæk/
• Rhymes: -æk

Etymology 1

From Middle English slak, from Old English slæc (“slack”), from Proto-Germanic *slakaz. For sense of coal dust, compare slag.

Noun

slack (countable and uncountable, plural slacks)

1. (uncountable) The part of anything that hangs loose, having no strain upon it.

2. (countable) A tidal marsh or shallow that periodically fills and drains.
3. (uncountable, psychotherapy) Unconditional listening attention given by client to patient.
   • 1979, Richard Dean Rosen, Psychobabble (page 93)

     The counselor is directed to give his client "free attention," or "slack," performing a kind of vigil, a version of Carl Rogers's "unconditional positive regard."

   • 1983, Harvey Jackins, The Reclaiming of Power (page 14)

     We have apparently been doing this all our lives, since we were first distressed. This collection of ancient habits seems to be "energized" by the presence, or even the promise, of "slack" or free attention from any person in the situation […]

Synonyms

• (tidal marsh): slough

Translations

Adjective

slack (comparative slacker, superlative slackest)

1. (normally said of a rope) Lax; not tense; not firmly extended.

2. Weak; not holding fast.

3. Moderate in some capacity.
   1. Moderately warm.

   2. Moderate in speed.

4. lacking diligence or care; not earnest or eager.
5. Not active, successful, or violent.
6. Excess; surplus to requirements.

7. (slang, Caribbean, Jamaican) vulgar; sexually explicit, especially in dancehall music.
8. (linguistics) Lax.

Synonyms

• (not violent, rapid, or pressing): slow, moderate, easy

Derived terms

• slacken
• slack-jawed
• slackness

Translations

Adverb

slack (not comparable)

1. Slackly.

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English slakken, slaken, from Old English slacian, from Proto-Germanic *slak?n? (“to slack, slacken”).

Verb

slack (third-person singular simple present slacks, present participle slacking, simple past and past participle slacked)

1. To slacken.

   • In this business of growing rich, poor men […] should slack their pace.

2. (obsolete) To mitigate; to reduce the strength of.
3. To lose cohesion or solidity by a chemical combination with water; to slake.

Derived terms

• slack off

Translations

Etymology 3

Either from the adjective in Etymology 1 or the verb in Etymology 2.

Noun

slack (plural slacks)

1. (rail transport) A temporary speed restriction where track maintenance or engineering work is being carried out at a particular place.

Etymology 4

From Middle English slak, from Old Norse slakki (“a slope”). Cognate with Icelandic slakki, Norwegian slakke.

Noun

slack (plural slacks)

1. (countable) A valley, or small, shallow dell.

Etymology 5

Probably from German Schlacke (“dross, slag”). Doublet of slag.

Noun

slack (uncountable)

1. (mining) Small coal; coal dust.
   • 1905, Colliery Engineer (volume 25, page 107)

     One of the important improvements of recent years has been attained by mixing the peat pulp as it passes through the grinding machine, with other inflammable materials, such as bituminous coal dust, or slack […]

Synonyms

• culm

Derived terms

• nutty slack

Anagrams

• calks, kcals, lacks