Lively vs Dull - What's the difference?
lively | dull |
Full of life; energetic.
* 1671 , (John Milton), (Samson Agonistes)
* , chapter=7
, title= * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=September 29, author=Jon Smith, work=BBC Sport
, title= Bright; vivid; glowing; strong; vigorous.
* 1704 , (Isaac Newton), (Opticks): Or, A Treatise of the Reflections, Refractions, Inflections and Colours of Light
* 1688 , (Robert South), Sacramental Preparation: Set forth in a Sermon on Matthew 5, 12.
(archaic) Endowed with or manifesting life; living.
* c. 1600 , (Philemon Holland)
(archaic) Representing life; lifelike.
* 1632 , (Philip Massinger) and (Nathan Field), (The Fatal Dowry)
(archaic) Airy; animated; spirited.
* 1734 , (Alexander Pope), (An Essay on Man)
(of beer) Fizzy; foamy; tending to produce a large head in the glass.
(nautical)
* 1846 , (Herman Melville), (Typee)
(obsolete) In a lifelike manner.
* , III.i:
*, Folio Society, 2006, vol.1, p.220-1:
Vibrantly, vividly.
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 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= 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.
To render dull; to remove or blunt an edge or something that was sharp.
* Francis Bacon
To soften, moderate or blunt; to make dull, stupid, or sluggish; to stupefy.
* Shakespeare
* Trench
To lose a sharp edge; to become dull.
To render dim or obscure; to sully; to tarnish.
* Francis Bacon
As adjectives the difference between lively and dull
is that lively is full of life; energetic while dull is lacking the ability to cut easily; not sharp.As a noun lively
is Term of address.As an adverb lively
is in a lifelike manner.As a proper noun Lively
is {{surname}.As a verb dull is
to render dull; to remove or blunt an edge or something that was sharp.lively
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) lyvely, lifly, from (etyl) .Alternative forms
* (l) (obsolete)Adjective
(er)- But wherefore comes old Manoa in such haste, / With youthful steps? Much livelier than erewhile / He seems.
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.}}
Tottenham 3-1 Shamrock Rovers, passage=But with the lively Dos Santos pulling the strings behind strikers Pavlyuchenko and Defoe, Spurs controlled the first half without finding the breakthrough their dominance deserved.}}
- The colours of the prism are manifestly more full, intense, and lively that those of natural bodies.
- His faith must be not only living, but lively too.
- chaplets of gold and silver resembling lively flowers and leaves
- I spied the lively picture of my father.
- From grave to gay, from lively to severe.
Usage notes
* Nouns to which "lively" is often applied: person, character, lady, woman, man, audience, personality, art, guide, activity, game, lesson, introduction, discussion, debate, writing, image, town, city, village, etc.Derived terms
* look livelyNoun
(livelies)- Speak the word, my livelies , and I'll pilot her in.
Etymology 2
From (etyl) .Adverb
(en adverb)- Him to a dainty flowre she did transmew, / Which in that cloth was wrought, as if it liuely grew.
- the Painter Protogenes .
Anagrams
* *dull
English
Alternative forms
* dul, dulleAdjective
(er)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?’}}
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.}}
- Pressing on the bruise produces a dull pain.
Synonyms
* See also * See also * (not shiny) lackluster, matteAntonyms
* bright * intelligent * sharpVerb
(en verb)- Years of misuse have dulled the tools.
- This dulled their swords.
- He drinks to dull the pain.
- Those [drugs] she has / Will stupefy and dull the sense a while.
- Use and custom have so dulled our eyes.
- A razor will dull with use.
- dulls the mirror
