dim
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: enpr: dĭm
ipa: /dɪm/
rhymes: -ɪm
Forms: form: dimmer
form: dimmest
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”).
Senses: examples: text: The lighting was too dim for me to make out his facial features.
text: that sustaining Love / Which, through the web of being blindly wove / By man and beast and earth and air and sea, / Burns bright or dim
ref: 1821, Percy B[ysshe] Shelley, Adonais: An Elegy on the Death of John Keats, […], Pisa, Italy: […] Didot; reprinted London: Noel Douglas […], 1927, →OCLC:
synonyms: dull
dingy
glosses: Not bright or colorful.
examples: text: He may be a bit dim, but he's not entirely stupid.
synonyms: word: addlebrained
word: addlepated
word: airheaded
word: bee-brained
word: beef-witted
word: beefheaded
word: beetle-headed
word: birdbrained
word: blockheaded
word: Boeotian
word: boneheaded
word: boofheaded
word: brainless
word: bubbleheaded
word: buffle-headed
word: bullet-headed
word: cerebrally challenged
word: childish
word: chowderheaded
word: chuckleheaded
word: crackbrained
word: cretinous
word: dense
word: dented
word: dim-bulb
word: dim-headed
word: dim-witted
word: dim
word: doltish
word: dopey
word: dozy
word: drowsy
word: dull-headed
word: dull-minded
word: dull-witted
word: dull
word: dumber than a box of rocks
word: dumb
word: dunderheaded
word: empty-headed
word: fatheaded
word: feeble-minded
word: flea-brained
word: foolish
word: fuzzy-headed
word: fuzzy-minded
word: half-brained
word: half-witted
word: hammer-headed
word: idiotic
word: imbecilic
word: inane
word: insipid
word: intellectually challenged
word: knuckleheaded
word: lamebrained
word: lowbrow
word: lumpish
word: lunkheaded
word: mentally challenged
word: mentally retarded
word: mindless
word: monosynaptic
word: moronic
word: muttonheaded
word: nitwitted
word: numbskulled
word: oafish
word: obtuse
word: peabrained
word: pratty
word: pudding-headed
word: puerile
word: purblind
word: quarter-witted
word: retarded
word: rockheaded
word: sharp as a bowling ball
word: sheep-headed
word: simple
word: slow-witted
word: slow
word: smooth-brained
word: stolid
word: stupid
word: thick-skulled
word: thickheaded
word: thickwitted
word: thick
word: unapprehensive
word: unclever
word: unintelligent
word: unsmart
word: vacant
word: vacuous
word: witless
word: wooden-headed
word: wool-headed
word: woolly-headed
word: woolly-minded
word: dumb as a bag of hammers
word: dumb as a box of rocks
word: dumb as a doorknob
word: dumb as an ox
word: dumb as a post
word: dumb as a sack of hammers
word: dumb as dirt
word: dumber than a rock
word: not the sharpest crayon in the box
word: not the sharpest knife in the drawer
word: not the sharpest tool in the shed
word: thick as a brick
word: thick as a plank
word: thick as champ
word: thick as mince
word: thick as two short planks
word: thick as a whale omelette
word: ass-brained
word: fuckwitted
word: shit-for-brains
word: thick as pig shit
glosses: Not smart or intelligent.
examples: text: His vision grew dimmer as he aged.
synonyms: word: dim
word: fuzzy
word: hazy
word: ill-defined
word: ill-marked
word: indefinite
word: indistinct
word: indistinguishable
word: muzzy
word: obscure
word: undefined
word: vague
glosses: Indistinct, hazy or unclear.
synonyms: deprecative
improbatory
reprobative
reprobatory
glosses: Disapproving, unfavorable: rarely used outside the phrase take a dim view of.
Synonyms: word: dusk
word: bland
word: colourless
word: dim
word: dingy
word: dull
word: faint
word: lackluster
word: leaden
word: muddy
word: sad
word: sober
word: uncolorful
word: unholiday
word: wan
Hyponyms: word: achromatic
word: dark colour
word: beige
word: drab
word: dun
word: sallow
word: flat
word: matt
word: matte
Derived terms: 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
Related terms: word: dark
word: pallid
word: cheerless