English Explanatory Dictionary

dim

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Not bright or colorful.
  2. Not smart or intelligent.
  3. Indistinct, hazy or unclear.
  4. Disapproving, unfavorable: rarely used outside the phrase take a dim view of.
noun
  1. Dimness.
verb
  1. To make something less bright.
  2. To become darker.
  3. To render dim, obscure, or dark; to make less bright or distinct.
  4. To deprive of distinct vision; to hinder from seeing clearly, either by dazzling or clouding the eyes; to darken the senses or understanding of.
  5. To diminish, dull, or curtail.
adj
  1. Clipping of diminished.
name
  1. A male given name (from Bashkir Дим) .
  2. vocative singular of Ди́ма (Díma)(•colloquial)

Pronunciation

dĭm /dɪm/ En-us-dim.ogg

Word forms

dim dimmer dimmest dims dimming dimmed

Etymology

From Middle English dim, dym, from Old English dim, dimm (“dim, dark, gloomy; wretched, grievous, sad, unhappy”), from Proto-West Germanic *dimm, from Proto-Germanic *dimmaz (“dark”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰem- (“to whisk, smoke; obscure”). Compare Faroese dimmur (“dark”), Icelandic dimmur (“dark”) and dimma (“darkness”).

Synonyms

dusk bland colourless dim dingy dull faint lackluster leaden muddy sad sober uncolorful unholiday wan addlebrained addlepated airheaded bee-brained beef-witted beefheaded beetle-headed birdbrained blockheaded Boeotian boneheaded boofheaded braindead brainless bubbleheaded buffle-headed bullet-headed cerebrally challenged childish chowderheaded chuckleheaded crackbrained cretinous daft dense dented dim-bulb dim-headed dim-witted doltish dopey dozy drowsy dull-headed dull-minded dull-witted dumber than a box of rocks dumb dunderheaded empty-headed fatheaded feeble-minded flea-brained foolish fuzzy-headed

Antonyms

bright colored multicolored

Related words

dark pallid cheerless dim mak dim sum dim.

Derived words

dim and distant dimbo dim bulb dim-headed dim-lit dimly dimmish dimmity dimmy dim-sighted dimsome dimwit dim-witted → dim-wittedness nice-but-dim autodimming bedim dimmable dimmer dim out fordim nondimmable undimmable undimmed undimming
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