Blunt vs. Dull — What's the Difference?
Difference Between Blunt and Dull
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Blunt
Having a dull edge or end; not sharp.
Dull
Arousing little interest; lacking liveliness; boring
A dull movie.
Blunt
Abrupt and often disconcertingly frank in speech
"People [in the Western US] are blunt with one another, sometimes even cruel, believing honesty is stronger medicine than sympathy" (Gretel Ehrlich).
Dull
Not brisk or rapid; sluggish
Business has been dull.
Blunt
Stark; unadorned
"The blunt truth ... is that he is devoid of political courage" (Jeff Jacoby).
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Dull
Not having a sharp edge or point; blunt
A dull knife.
Blunt
Slow to perceive, understand, or feel; dull or insensitive
"I felt blunt with shock when I heard the news" (Sallie Bingham).
Dull
Not intensely or keenly felt
A dull ache.
Blunt
To dull the edge of (a knife, for example).
Dull
Not bright, vivid, or shiny
A dull brown.
A glaze with a dull finish.
Blunt
To make less effective; weaken
Blunting the criticism with a smile.
Dull
Cloudy or overcast
A dull sky.
Blunt
To become blunt
When the scraper blade blunts, you will have to replace it.
Dull
Not clear or resonant
A dull thud.
Blunt
A cigar whose interior has been hollowed out and filled with marijuana.
Dull
Intellectually weak or obtuse; stupid.
Blunt
A marijuana cigarette that has been rolled in a cigar's tobacco leaf wrapper instead of rolling paper.
Dull
Lacking responsiveness or alertness; insensitive
Half-asleep and dull to the noises in the next room.
Blunt
Having a thick edge or point; not sharp.
Dull
Dispirited; depressed
A dull mood.
Blunt
Dull in understanding; slow of discernment; opposed to acute.
Dull
To make or become dull.
Blunt
Abrupt in address; plain; unceremonious; wanting the forms of civility; rough in manners or speech.
The blunt admission that he had never liked my company.
Dull
Lacking the ability to cut easily; not sharp.
All these knives are dull.
Blunt
Hard to impress or penetrate.
Dull
Boring; not exciting or interesting.
He sat through the dull lecture and barely stayed awake.
Blunt
Slow or deficient in feeling: insensitive.
Dull
Not shiny; having a matte finish or no particular luster or brightness.
Choose a dull finish to hide fingerprints.
A dull fire or lamp;
A dull red or yellow;
A dull mirror
Blunt
A fencer's practice foil with a soft tip.
Dull
Not bright or intelligent; stupid; having slow understanding.
Blunt
A short needle with a strong point.
Dull
Sluggish, listless.
Blunt
A marijuana cigar.
Dull
Cloudy, overcast.
It's a dull day.
Blunt
Money
Dull
Insensible; unfeeling.
Blunt
A playboating move resembling a cartwheel performed on a wave.
Dull
Heavy; lifeless; inert.
Blunt
To dull the edge or point of, by making it thicker; to make blunt.
Dull
(of pain etc) Not intense; felt indistinctly or only slightly.
Pressing on the bruise produces a dull' pain.
Blunt
(figuratively) To repress or weaken; to impair the force, keenness, or susceptibility, of
It blunted my appetite.
My feeling towards her have been blunted.
Dull
Not clear, muffled.
Blunt
Having a thick edge or point, as an instrument; dull; not sharp.
The murderous knife was dull and blunt.
Dull
(transitive) To render dull; to remove or blunt an edge or something that was sharp.
Years of misuse have dulled the tools.
Blunt
Dull in understanding; slow of discernment; stupid; - opposed to acute.
His wits are not so blunt.
Dull
(transitive) To soften, moderate or blunt; to make dull, stupid, or sluggish; to stupefy.
He drinks to dull the pain.
Blunt
Abrupt in address; plain; unceremonious; wanting the forms of civility; rough in manners or speech.
Dull
(intransitive) To lose a sharp edge; to become dull.
A razor will dull with use.
Blunt
Hard to impress or penetrate.
I find my heart hardened and blunt to new impressions.
Dull
To render dim or obscure; to sully; to tarnish.
Blunt
To dull the edge or point of, by making it thicker; to make blunt.
Dull
Slow of understanding; wanting readiness of apprehension; stupid; doltish; blockish.
She is not bred so dull but she can learn.
Blunt
To repress or weaken, as any appetite, desire, or power of the mind; to impair the force, keenness, or susceptibility, of; as, to blunt the feelings.
Dull
Slow in action; sluggish; unready; awkward.
This people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing.
O, help my weak wit and sharpen my dull tongue.
Blunt
A fencer's foil.
Dull
Insensible; unfeeling.
Think me notSo dull a devil to forget the lossOf such a matchless wife.
Blunt
A short needle with a strong point. See Needle.
Dull
Not keen in edge or point; lacking sharpness; blunt.
Blunt
Money.
Dull
Not bright or clear to the eye; wanting in liveliness of color or luster; not vivid; obscure; dim; as, a dull fire or lamp; a dull red or yellow; a dull mirror.
Blunt
Make less intense;
Blunted emotions
Dull
Heavy; gross; cloggy; insensible; spiritless; lifeless; inert.
As turning the logs will make a dull fire burn, so changes of study a dull brain.
Blunt
Make numb or insensitive;
The shock numbed her senses
Dull
Furnishing little delight, spirit, or variety; uninteresting; tedious; cheerless; gloomy; melancholy; depressing; as, a dull story or sermon; a dull occupation or period; hence, cloudy; overcast; as, a dull day.
Along life's dullest, dreariest walk.
Blunt
Make dull or blunt;
Too much cutting dulls the knife's edge
Dull
To deprive of sharpness of edge or point.
Borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
Blunt
Make less sharp;
Blunt the knives
Dull
To make dull, stupid, or sluggish; to stupefy, as the senses, the feelings, the perceptions, and the like.
Those [drugs] she hasWill stupefy and dull the sense a while.
Use and custom have so dulled our eyes.
Blunt
Make less lively, intense, or vigorous; impair in vigor, force, activity, or sensation;
Terror blunted her feelings
Deaden a sound
Dull
To render dim or obscure; to sully; to tarnish.
Blunt
Having a broad or rounded end;
Thick marks made by a blunt pencil
Dull
To deprive of liveliness or activity; to render heavy; to make inert; to depress; to weary; to sadden.
Attention of mind . . . wasted or dulled through continuance.
Blunt
Used of a knife or other blade; not sharp;
A blunt instrument
Dull
To become dull or stupid.
Blunt
Characterized by directness in manner or speech; without subtlety or evasion;
Blunt talking and straight shooting
A blunt New England farmer
I gave them my candid opinion
Forthright criticism
A forthright approach to the problem
Tell me what you think--and you may just as well be frank
It is possible to be outspoken without being rude
Plainspoken and to the point
A point-blank accusation
Dull
Make dull in appearance;
Age had dulled the surface
Blunt
Devoid of any qualifications or disguise or adornment;
The blunt truth
The crude facts
Facing the stark reality of the deadline
Dull
Become dull or lusterless in appearance; lose shine or brightness;
The varnished table top dulled with time
Dull
Deaden (a sound or noise), especially by wrapping
Dull
Make numb or insensitive;
The shock numbed her senses
Dull
Make dull or blunt;
Too much cutting dulls the knife's edge
Dull
Become less interesting or attractive
Dull
Make less lively or vigorous;
Middle age dulled her appetite for travel
Dull
Lacking in liveliness or animation;
He was so dull at parties
A dull political campaign
A large dull impassive man
Dull days with nothing to do
How dull and dreary the world is
Fell back into one of her dull moods
Dull
Emitting or reflecting very little light;
A dull glow
Dull silver badly in need of a polish
A dull sky
Dull
Being or made softer or less loud or clear;
The dull boom of distant breaking waves
Muffled drums
The muffled noises of the street
Muted trumpets
Dull
So lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness;
A boring evening with uninteresting people
The deadening effect of some routine tasks
A dull play
His competent but dull performance
A ho-hum speaker who couldn't capture their attention
What an irksome task the writing of long letters is
Tedious days on the train
The tiresome chirping of a cricket
Other people's dreams are dreadfully wearisome
Dull
(of color) very low in saturation; highly diluted;
Dull greens and blues
Dull
Not keenly felt;
A dull throbbing
Dull pain
Dull
Slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity;
So dense he never understands anything I say to him
Never met anyone quite so dim
Although dull at classical learning, at mathematics he was uncommonly quick
Dumb officials make some really dumb decisions
He was either normally stupid or being deliberately obtuse
Worked with the slow students
Dull
(of business) not active or brisk;
Business is dull (or slow)
A sluggish market
Dull
Not having a sharp edge or point;
The knife was too dull to be of any use
Dull
Blunted in responsiveness or sensibility;
A dull gaze
So exhausted she was dull to what went on about her
Dull
Not clear and resonant; sounding as if striking with or against something relatively soft;
The dull thud
Thudding bullets
Dull
Darkened with overcast;
A dark day
A dull sky
A gray rainy afternoon
Gray clouds
The sky was leaden and thick
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