🌫️ Somewhat boring ✂️ Not very sharp 😑 Slightly slow-thinking

dullish

4.2

Not very sharp and cuts poorly

adjective
/ˈdʌlɪʃ/

: desafilado

You might want to sharpen that dullish blade before preparing dinner.

Examples

After months of use, the chef noticed his favorite knife had become dullish.
The old scissors felt dullish and struggled to cut through the fabric.
This knife is dullish.
The blade feels dullish now.
The old scissors felt dullish and struggled to cut through the fabric.
After months of use, the chef noticed his favorite knife had become dullish.
You might want to sharpen that dullish blade before preparing dinner.

Synonyms

blunt

vsdullish

109 1.0

An object with a dull edge or tip that does not cut well

is less extreme and shows only a small loss of sharpness

dull

vsdullish

17 1.0

Not having a sharp edge so it cuts poorly

is only mildly lacking sharpness rather than fully without an edge

unsharpened

vsdullish

1 2.5

Not having a cutting edge or point

is only slightly less sharp rather than wholly unprepared for cutting

dulled

vsdullish

4.3

Made less strong or clear

is a mild lack of sharpness rather than a clear loss of edge

hebetudinous

vsdullish

Archaic

9.9

A blade or tool that is not sharp and does not cut well

is milder and informal, not the formal severe lack this word implies

Antonyms

sharp

301 1.0

A thing with an edge that can cut or pierce

How Sharp

razor-sharp

8 4.1

sharp

301 1.0

dullish

4.2

blunt

109 1.0

Surface Forms

dullish positive

Morphology

dullish = dull (transparent) = dull + ish

The formation is a direct adjectival extension: 'dull' (not sharp) + '-ish' (somewhat), so the knife-related sense is predictable.

Etymology

Dullish comes from the word dull plus the ending -ish, where dull means 'not sharp' and -ish means 'somewhat'. So dullish describes a blade that is 'a little blunt' and may need sharpening.