What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Dull vs Opaque - What's the difference?

dull | opaque |

In lang=en terms the difference between dull and opaque

is that dull is to lose a sharp edge; to become dull while opaque is to make, render (more) opaque.

As adjectives the difference between dull and opaque

is that dull is lacking the ability to cut easily; not sharp while opaque is neither reflecting nor emitting light.

As verbs the difference between dull and opaque

is that dull is to render dull; to remove or blunt an edge or something that was sharp while opaque is to make, render (more) opaque.

As a noun opaque is

(obsolete|poetic) an area of darkness; a place or region with no light.

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

    opaque

    English

    (wikipedia opaque)

    Alternative forms

    * opake

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Neither reflecting nor emitting light.
  • Allowing little light to pass through, not translucent or transparent.
  • (figuratively) Unclear, unintelligible, hard to get or explain the meaning of
  • (figuratively) Obtuse, stupid.
  • (computing) Describes a type for which higher-level callers have no knowledge of data values or their representations; all operations are carried out by the type's defined abstract operators.
  • Antonyms

    * (physically) see-through, translucent, transparent * (figuratively) clear, obvious, bright, brilliant

    Usage notes

    * The comparative opaquer and superlative opaquest, though formed following valid rules for English, are much less common than more opaque' and ' most opaque and seem to occur more frequently in poetry.

    Derived terms

    * opaquely * opaqueness * radiopaque

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete, poetic) An area of darkness; a place or region with no light.
  • * 1745 , Edward Young, Night-Thoughts , I:
  • Through this opaque of Nature and of Soul, / This double night, transmit one pitying ray, / To lighten, and to cheer.
  • Something which is opaque rather than translucent.
  • Verb

  • To make, render (more) opaque.
  • Synonyms

    * blur * cloud

    See also

    * translucent

    References

    * * ----