dull (all the foll. are freq.; 5 not pre-S.)
1.
not
quick or sharp, obtuse, stupid
Tp. V. i. 297
“this fool,”
R3 IV. iv. 446
“,
unmindful villain.”
2.
wanting sensibility
or acuteness in the bodily faculties, physically
insensible
Shr. Ind. i. 24
“the d-est
scent,”
Wint. I. ii. 421
“the d-est
nostril,”
H8 III. ii. 434
“ cold
marble,”
Ant. III. iii. 16
“ of
tongue.”
3.
slow, inert,
inactive, heavy, drowsy
Mer.V. II. vii. 8
“ lead,”
John III. iv. 109
“the ear of a drowsy
man,”
1H4 IV. ii. 87
“a fighter,”
Ham. IV. iv. 33
“spur my dull
revenge”
; soft, soothing 2H4 IV. v.
2.
4.
gloomy, melancholy
Ado II. iii. 75
“dumps so dull and
heavy,”
Sonn. xcvii. 13
“so dull a
cheer.”
5.
tedious, irksome,
uninteresting
Err. II. i. 91
“Are my discourses ?,”
Ant. IV. xiii. [xv.] 61 “this
world,”
Lucr. 1019
“dull debaters.”
6.
not sharp, blunt
R3 IV. iv. 227.
7.
not bright, obscure,
dim, gloomy, overcast
2H4 IV. iii. 106
“ and crudy
vapours,”
H5 III. v. 16
“their climate foggy,
raw, and ,”
Cym. II. iv. 41
“is't not Too dull for
your good wearing?”
