Dull vs. Lively

Dull vs. Lively — Is There a Difference?
ADVERTISEMENT

Difference Between Dull and Lively

Dulladjective

Lacking the ability to cut easily; not sharp.

All these knives are dull.

Livelyadjective

Full of life; energetic.

Dulladjective

Boring; not exciting or interesting.

He sat through the dull lecture and barely stayed awake.When does having a dull personality ever get you a girlfriend? Even if you get one, how does being dull help you keep a relationship for over a year?

Livelyadjective

Bright; vivid; glowing; strong; vigorous.

Dulladjective

Not shiny; having a matte finish or no particular luster or brightness.

Choose a dull finish to hide fingerprints.a dull fire or lamp;a dull red or yellow;a dull mirror

Livelyadjective

(archaic) Endowed with or manifesting life; living.

ADVERTISEMENT

Dulladjective

Not bright or intelligent; stupid; slow of understanding.

Livelyadjective

(archaic) Representing life; lifelike.

Dulladjective

Sluggish, listless.

Livelyadjective

(archaic) Airy; animated; spirited.

Dulladjective

Cloudy, overcast.

It's a dull day.

Livelyadjective

(of beer) Fizzy; foamy; tending to produce a large head in the glass.

ADVERTISEMENT

Dulladjective

Insensible; unfeeling.

Livelynoun

Term of address.

Dulladjective

Heavy; lifeless; inert.

Livelyadverb

Vigorously.

Dulladjective

(of pain etc) Not intense; felt indistinctly or only slightly.

Pressing on the bruise produces a dull pain.

Livelyadverb

Vibrantly, vividly.

Dulladjective

Not clear, muffled.

Livelyadverb

(obsolete) In a lifelike manner.

Dullverb

(transitive) To render dull; to remove or blunt an edge or something that was sharp.

Years of misuse have dulled the tools.

Livelyadjective

full of life and energy;

a lively discussionlively and attractive parentsa lively party

Dullverb

(transitive) To soften, moderate or blunt; to make dull, stupid, or sluggish; to stupefy.

He drinks to dull the pain.

Livelyadjective

full of zest or vigor;

a racy literary style

Dullverb

(intransitive) To lose a sharp edge; to become dull.

A razor will dull with use.

Livelyadjective

quick and energetic;

a brisk walk in the parka lively gaita merry chasetraveling at a rattling ratea snappy pacea spanking breeze

Dullverb

To render dim or obscure; to sully; to tarnish.

Livelyadjective

rebounds readily;

clean bouncy haira lively tennis ballas resiliant as seasoned hickoryspringy turf

Dullverb

make dull in appearance;

Age had dulled the surface

Livelyadjective

filled with events or activity;

a lively period in history

Dullverb

become dull or lusterless in appearance; lose shine or brightness;

the varnished table top dulled with time

Livelyadjective

full of spirit;

a dynamic full of life womana vital and charismatic leaderthis whole lively world

Dullverb

deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping

Livelyadjective

characterized by energetic activity;

a lively baby

Dullverb

make numb or insensitive;

The shock numbed her senses

Dullverb

make dull or blunt;

Too much cutting dulls the knife's edge

Dullverb

become less interesting or attractive

Dullverb

make less lively or vigorous;

Middle age dulled her appetite for travel

Dulladjective

lacking in liveliness or animation;

he was so dull at partiesa dull political campaigna large dull impassive mandull days with nothing to dohow dull and dreary the world isfell back into one of her dull moods

Dulladjective

emitting or reflecting very little light;

a dull glowdull silver badly in need of a polisha dull sky

Dulladjective

being or made softer or less loud or clear;

the dull boom of distant breaking wavesmuffled drumsthe muffled noises of the streetmuted trumpets

Dulladjective

so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness;

a boring evening with uninteresting peoplethe deadening effect of some routine tasksa dull playhis competent but dull performancea ho-hum speaker who couldn't capture their attentionwhat an irksome task the writing of long letters istedious days on the trainthe tiresome chirping of a cricketother people's dreams are dreadfully wearisome

Dulladjective

(of color) very low in saturation; highly diluted;

dull greens and blues

Dulladjective

not keenly felt;

a dull throbbingdull pain

Dulladjective

slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity;

so dense he never understands anything I say to himnever met anyone quite so dimalthough dull at classical learning, at mathematics he was uncommonly quickdumb officials make some really dumb decisionshe was either normally stupid or being deliberately obtuseworked with the slow students

Dulladjective

(of business) not active or brisk;

business is dull (or slow)a sluggish market

Dulladjective

not having a sharp edge or point;

the knife was too dull to be of any use

Dulladjective

blunted in responsiveness or sensibility;

a dull gazeso exhausted she was dull to what went on about her

Dulladjective

not clear and resonant; sounding as if striking with or against something relatively soft;

the dull thudthudding bullets

Dulladjective

darkened with overcast;

a dark daya dull skya gray rainy afternoongray cloudsthe sky was leaden and thick