- not interesting or exciting synonym dreary
- Life in a small town could be deadly dull.
- The countryside was flat, dull and uninteresting.
- The first half of the game was pretty dull.
- There's never a dull moment when John's around.
Synonyms boringboringdull ▪ tediousThese words all describe a subject, activity, person or place that is not interesting or exciting.boring not interesting; making you feel tired and impatient:- He’s such a boring man!
- She found her job very boring.
- Life in a small town could be deadly dull.
- The journey soon became tedious.
- to be boring/dull/tedious for somebody
- boring/dull/tedious subjects/books
- boring/dull/tedious jobs/work/games
- a boring/dull place/man/woman/person
- deadly boring/dull
Extra ExamplesTopics Feelingsb2- The long lectures made the afternoon dull.
- The movie was long and deadly dull.
- The work gets a bit dull at times.
- He is the author of several dull novels.
- We've had a dull start to the season.
- There's never a dull moment in this job.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- appear
- be
- look
- …
- extremely
- fairly
- very
- …
Take your English to the next level
The Oxford Learner’s Thesaurus explains the difference between groups of similar words. Try it for free as part of the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app
- not bright or shiny
- a dull grey colour
- dull, lifeless hair
- Her eyes were dull.
- The fire died down to a dull glow.
- not bright, with a lot of clouds synonym overcast
- It was a dull, grey day.
- The town seemed deserted in the dull afternoon light.
- not clear or loud
- The gates shut behind him with a dull thud.
- not very severe, but continuous
- a dull ache/pain
- slow in understanding synonym stupid
- a dull pupil
- (especially North American English) not busy; slow
- Don't sell into a dull market.
boring
light/colours
weather
sounds
pain
person
trade
Word OriginOld English dol ‘stupid’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch dol ‘crazy’ and German toll ‘mad, fantastic, wonderful’.
Idioms
See dull in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee dull in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishall work and no play (makes Jack a dull boy)
- (saying) it is not healthy to spend all your time working; you need to relax too
(as) dull as ditchwater (British English)
(US English (as) dull as dishwater)
- (informal) extremely boring
- I always found history as dull as ditchwater.
More Like This Similes in idiomsSimiles in idioms- (as) bald as a coot
- (as) blind as a bat
- (as) bright as a button
- (as) bold as brass
- as busy as a bee
- as clean as a whistle
- (as) dead as a/the dodo
- (as) deaf as a post
- (as) dull as ditchwater
- (as) fit as a fiddle
- as flat as a pancake
- (as) good as gold
- (as) mad as a hatter/a March hare
- (as) miserable/ugly as sin
- as old as the hills
- (as) pleased/proud as Punch
- as pretty as a picture
- (as) regular as clockwork
- (as) quick as a flash
- (as) safe as houses
- (as) sound as a bell
- (as) steady as a rock
- (as) thick as two short planks
- (as) tough as old boots
Check pronunciation:
dull