different between futile vs dull

futile

English

Etymology

From Middle French futile, from Latin f?tilis.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /?fju?.ta?l/
  • (US) IPA(key): /?fju.ta?.?l/, /?fju.t?l/
  • Rhymes: -u?t?l (US)

Adjective

futile (comparative more futile, superlative most futile)

  1. Incapable of producing results; doomed not to be successful; not worth attempting.

Synonyms

  • useless, see also Thesaurus:futile

Antonyms

  • effectual
  • effective
  • fruitful

Related terms

  • futility
  • futilitarian

Translations


French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin f?tilis.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /fy.til/
  • Rhymes: -il

Adjective

futile (plural futiles)

  1. futile

Related terms

  • futilité

Further reading

  • “futile” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Italian

Etymology

From Latin f?tilis (futile, worthless, literally that easily pours out).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /?fu.ti.le/
  • Rhymes: -utile
  • Hyphenation: fù?ti?le

Adjective

futile (plural futili)

  1. futile, frivolous, worthless

Derived terms

  • futilmente

Related terms

  • futilità

Anagrams

  • fluite

References

  • futile in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Latin

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

  • futtile

Adverb

f?tile (not comparable)

  1. in vain
Synonyms
  • frustr?
  • in cassum

Etymology 2

Adjective

f?tile

  1. nominative neuter singular of f?tilis
  2. accusative neuter singular of f?tilis
  3. vocative neuter singular of f?tilis

References

  • futile in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • futile in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • futile in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

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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

dull From the web:

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