Cool vs Dull - What's the difference?

cool | dull |

As an acronym cool

is (computing) clips object]]-oriented [[language|language .

As an adjective dull is

lacking the ability to cut easily; not sharp.

As a verb dull is

to render dull; to remove or blunt an edge or something that was sharp.

cool

English

Alternative forms

* (slang) coo, kewl, kool, qewl, qool

Etymology 1

From (etyl), from (etyl) . Related to (l).

Adjective

(er)

Having a slightly low temperature; mildly or pleasantly cold.

, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8 , passage=The day was cool and snappy for August, and the Rise all green with a lavish nature. Now we plunged into a deep shade with the boughs lacing each other overhead, and crossed dainty, rustic bridges over the cold trout-streams, the boards giving back the clatter of our horses' feet:

Allowing or suggesting heat relief.

* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)

, chapter=2 citation , passage=Now that she had rested and had fed from the luncheon tray Mrs. Broome had just removed, she had reverted to her normal gaiety. She looked cool in a grey tailored cotton dress with a terracotta scarf and shoes and her hair a black silk helmet.}}

Of a person, not showing emotion, calm and in self-control.

Unenthusiastic, lukewarm, skeptical.

Calmly audacious.

* (Nathaniel Hawthorne) (1804-1864)

Its cool stare of familiarity was intolerable.

* 1944 November 28, Irving Brecher and Fred F. Finklehoffe, Meet Me in St. Louis , Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer:

My father was talking to the World's Fair Commission yesterday, and they estimate it's going to cost a cool fifty million.

(label) Of a person, knowing what to do and how to behave; considered popular by others.

(label) In fashion, part of or fitting the in crowd; originally hipster slang.

* 2008 , Lou Schuler, "Foreward", in'' Nate Green, ''Built for Show , page xii

The fact that I was middle-aged, bald, married, and raising girls instead of chasing them didn't really bother me. Muscles are cool at any age.

(label) Of an action, all right; acceptable; that does not present a problem.

(label) A dismissal of a comment perceived as boring or pointless.

(label) Of a person, not upset by circumstances that might ordinarily be upsetting.

* (Henry Fielding) (1707-1754)

He had lost a cool hundred.

* (Charles Dickens) (1812-1870)

leaving a cool four thousand to Mr. Matthew Pocket

Synonyms

* (having a slightly low temperature) chilly * (not showing emotion) distant, phlegmatic, standoffish, unemotional * (in fashion) ** (standard) , fashionable, in fashion, modish, stylish ** (colloquial or slang) happening, hip, in, trendy * (acceptable) acceptable, all right, OK * (not upset) easy, fine, not bothered, not fussed'''

Antonyms

* (having a slightly low temperature) lukewarm, tepid, warm * (not showing emotion) passionate * (knowing what to do and how to behave) awkward, uncool * (in fashion) , old hat, out, out of fashion * (acceptable) not cricket (UK), not on, unacceptable * (not upset) bothered, upset * (unenthusiastic) warm

Derived terms

* cool head * coolish * coolly * coolness * keep one's cool * lose one's cool * uncool

Quotations

* The earliest use of the word in this way seems to be in ' "The Moonstone" 1868: *: "She has been a guest of yours at this house," I answered. "May I venture to suggest — if nothing was said about me beforehand — that I might see her here?" *: "Cool!" said Mr. Bruff. With that one word of comment on the reply that I had made to him, he took another turn up and down the room. *: "In plain English," he said, "my house is to be turned into a trap to catch Rachel ... * In 1602, Shakespeare wrote that Queen Gertrude told Hamlet: *: "O gentle son, Upon the heat and flame of thy distemper, Sprinkle cool patience."

Noun

(-)

A moderate or refreshing state of cold; moderate temperature of the air between hot and cold; coolness.

in the cool of the morning

A calm temperament.

Synonyms

*(calm temperament) calmness, composure

Etymology 2

From (etyl) colen, from (etyl) , altered to resemble the adjective cool. See (l).

Verb

(en verb)

(literally) To lose heat, to get colder.

I like to let my tea cool before drinking it so I don't burn my tongue.

To make cooler, less warm.

* Bible, Luke xvi. 24:

Send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue.

(figuratively) To become less intense, e.g. less amicable or passionate.

Relations cooled between the USA and the USSR after 1980.

To make less intense, e.g. less amicable or passionate.

* Shakespeare:

We have reason to cool our raging motions, our carnal stings, our unbitted lusts.

Derived terms

* coolant * cooler * cooling * cool off * cool down * cool it * cool one's heels * cool one's jets

Anagrams

* * 1000 English basic words ----

dull

English

Alternative forms

* dul, dulle

Adjective

(er)

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; mirror

*(Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) (1807-1882)

*:As turning the logs will make a dull fire burn, so changes of study a dull brain.

*

*: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. In fact, that arm-chair had been an extravagance of Mrs. Bunting. She had wanted her husband to be comfortable after the day's work was done, and she had paid thirty-seven shillings for the chair.

Not bright or intelligent; stupid; slow of understanding.

*(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)

*:She is not bred so dull but she can learn.

*(William Makepeace Thackeray) (1811-1863)

*:dull at classical learning

*{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=15 citation , passage=She paused and took a defiant breath. ‘If you don't believe me, I can't help it. But I'm not a liar.’ ¶ ‘No,’ said Luke, grinning at her. ‘You're not dull enough! […] What about the kid's clothes? I don't suppose they were anything to write home about, but didn't you keep anything? A bootee or a bit of embroidery or anything at all?’}}
Sluggish, listless.

*(Bible), (w) xiii. 15

*:This people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing.

*(Edmund Spenser) (c.1552–1599)

*:O, help my weak wit and sharpen my dull tongue.

*, chapter=7
, title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=[…] St.?Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable parish in the East End of London. Close-packed, crushed by the buttressed height of the railway viaduct, rendered airless by huge walls of factories, it at once banished lively interest from a stranger's mind and left only a dull oppression of the spirit.}}
Cloudy, overcast.

:

Insensible; unfeeling.

*(Beaumont and Fletcher) (1603-1625)

*:Think me not / So dull a devil to forget the loss / Of such a matchless wife.

Heavy; lifeless; inert.

*(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)

*:the dull earth

*(Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) (1807-1882)

*:As turning the logs will make a dull fire burn, so changes of study a dull brain.

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

Pressing on the bruise produces a dull pain.

Synonyms

* See also * See also * (not shiny) lackluster, matte

Antonyms

* bright * intelligent * sharp

Verb

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

Years of misuse have dulled the tools.

* Francis Bacon

This dulled their swords.

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

He drinks to dull the pain.

* Shakespeare

Those [drugs] she has / Will stupefy and dull the sense a while.

* Trench

Use and custom have so dulled our eyes.

To lose a sharp edge; to become dull.

A razor will dull with use.

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

* Francis Bacon

dulls the mirror

External links

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