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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- in vain
Synonyms
- frustr?
- in cassum
Etymology 2
Adjective
f?tile
- nominative neuter singular of f?tilis
- accusative neuter singular of f?tilis
- 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)
- Lacking the ability to cut easily; not sharp.
- Boring; not exciting or interesting.
- 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.
- Not bright or intelligent; stupid; having slow understanding.
- 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.
- Cloudy, overcast.
- Insensible; unfeeling.
- Think me not / So dull a devil to forget the loss / Of such a matchless wife.
- 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.
- c. 1857', Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Table-Talk
- (of pain etc) Not intense; felt indistinctly or only slightly.
- Pressing on the bruise produces a dull pain.
- (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)
- (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.
- (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.
- (intransitive) To lose a sharp edge; to become dull.
- A razor will dull with use.
- 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)
- 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:
- what dull means
- what dulls a knife the fastest
- what dull pain means
- what dulls a chainsaw chain
- what dulls scissors
- what dulls iron
- what dull hair means
- what dulls your taste buds
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