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Glite Dictionary
🌑 Not bright 🤔 Not smart 🌫️ Not clear 🔅 To make less bright 🕰️ To fade 🚗 To lower lights
to dim

to dim

4 3.7
To change car headlights from high to low beam
  • verb
  • /dɪm/
translation icon : bajar las luces
  • At sunset, we often dim the porch lights for a cozy atmosphere.

Examples

  • OK, so can we dim the front lights here?

  • Can we can we dim those big lights over there?

  • How do you dim these lights?

    Some Like It Hot (1959)

  • Ooh, I'll dim the lights.

    Sorority Boys (2002)

  • Since you are closest to the lights, would you be so kind as to dim the lights?

    Fiction book (2001)

  • Then he runs over and dims the lights.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • I dim the headlights and park where I can look down on the pavilion.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • Dim the lights, please.

    Insidious (2011)

  • Lila dims the lights and switches on the projector.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • Could you please dim the headlights when approaching other cars?

Synonyms

to dip
vsto dim
  • UK
2 7.6

To lower car headlights from high to low beam

is the same action but uses a different word form

Antonyms

to brighten
5 2.1

To become less cloudy with more light

Idioms

to take a dim view
3 5.6

To not approve of something

Compounds

dim sum
12 3.5

A meal of small Chinese dishes served with tea

dim view
5 5.1

A bad opinion of someone or something

dim glow
1 2.6

A soft, low light that is not very bright

dim and distant dream
  • Literature
7.2

A hope that seems unlikely to come true

dim-sighted
8.6

Unable to see things clearly because you have weak eyes

nice-but-dim
  • Offensive
9.2

Pleasant and friendly but not very smart

Surface Forms

dim infinitive
dimmed past
dimmed past participle
dimming present participle
dims third person singular

Etymology

To dim your headlights means to make them lower or less bright, and this use comes from the old word dimm meaning 'faint', so dim here is simply about reducing light for safety.