Adjacent Words

Dim definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DIM, a. [See Damp.]
1. Not seeing clearly; having the vision obscured and indistinct.
When Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim. Genesis 27.
2. Not clearly seen; obscure; imperfectly seen or discovered; as a dim prospect.
3. Somewhat dark; dusky; not luminous; as a dim shade.
4. Dull of apprehension; having obscure conceptions.
The understanding is dim.
5. Having its luster obscured; sullied; tarnished.
How is the gold become dim? Lamentations 4.
DIM, v.t.
1. To cloud; to impair the powers of vision; as, to dim the eyes.
2. To obscure; as, to dim the sight; to dim the prospect.
3. To render dull the powers of conception.
4. To make less bright; to obscure.
Each passion dimmed his face.
5. To render less bright; to tarnish or sully; as, to dim gold.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: lacking in light; not bright or harsh; "a dim light beside the bed"; "subdued lights and soft music" [syn: dim, subdued]
2: lacking clarity or distinctness; "a dim figure in the distance"; "only a faint recollection"; "shadowy figures in the gloom"; "saw a vague outline of a building through the fog"; "a few wispy memories of childhood" [syn: dim, faint, shadowy, vague, wispy]
3: made dim or less bright; "the dimmed houselights brought a hush of anticipation"; "dimmed headlights"; "we like dimmed lights when we have dinner" [syn: dimmed, dim] [ant: bright, undimmed]
4: offering little or no hope; "the future looked black"; "prospects were bleak"; "Life in the Aran Islands has always been bleak and difficult"- J.M.Synge; "took a dim view of things" [syn: black, bleak, dim]
5: 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"- Thackeray; "dumb officials make some really dumb decisions"; "he was either normally stupid or being deliberately obtuse"; "worked with the slow students" [syn: dense, dim, dull, dumb, obtuse, slow] v
1: switch (a car's headlights) from a higher to a lower beam [syn: dim, dip]
2: become dim or lusterless; "the lights dimmed and the curtain rose"
3: make dim or lusterless; "Time had dimmed the silver"
4: make dim by comparison or conceal [syn: blind, dim]
5: become vague or indistinct; "The distinction between the two theories blurred" [syn: blur, dim, slur] [ant: focalise, focalize, focus]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective (dimmer; dimmest) Etymology: Middle English, from Old English dimm; akin to Old High German timber dark Date: before 12th century 1. a. emitting or having a limited or insufficient amount of light <dim stars> <a dim lamp> <a dim hallway> b. dull, lusterless <dim colors> c. lacking pronounced, clear-cut, or vigorous quality or character <a dim echo of the past> 2. a. seen indistinctly <a dim outline> b. perceived by the senses or mind indistinctly or weakly ; faint <had only a dim notion of what was going on> c. having little prospect of favorable result or outcome <a dim future> d. characterized by an unfavorable, skeptical, or pessimistic attitude — usually used in the phrase take a dim view of 3. not perceiving clearly and distinctly <dim eyes> 4. dim-witted • dimly adverb • dimmable adjective • dimness noun II. verb (dimmed; dimming) Date: before 12th century transitive verb 1. to make dim or lusterless 2. to reduce the light from intransitive verb to become dim III. noun Date: 14th century 1. archaic dusk, dimness 2. low beam IV. abbreviation 1. dimension 2. diminished 3. diminuendo 4. diminutive

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & v. --adj. (dimmer, dimmest) 1 a only faintly luminous or visible; not bright. b obscure; ill-defined. 2 not clearly perceived or remembered. 3 colloq. stupid; slow to understand. 4 (of the eyes) not seeing clearly. --v. (dimmed, dimming) 1 tr. & intr. make or become dim or less bright. 2 tr. US dip (headlights). Phrases and idioms: dim-wit colloq. a stupid person. dim-witted colloq. stupid, unintelligent. take a dim view of colloq. 1 disapprove of. 2 feel gloomy about. Derivatives: dimly adv. dimmish adj. dimness n. Etymology: OE dim, dimm, of unkn. orig.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dim Dim, v. i. To grow dim. --J. C. Shairp.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dim Dim, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dimmed; p. pr. & vb. n. Dimming.] 1. To render dim, obscure, or dark; to make less bright or distinct; to take away the luster of; to darken; to dull; to obscure; to eclipse. A king among his courtiers, who dims all his attendants. --Dryden. Now set the sun, and twilight dimmed the ways. --Cowper. 2. To deprive of distinct vision; to hinder from seeing clearly, either by dazzling or clouding the eyes; to darken the senses or understanding of. Her starry eyes were dimmed with streaming tears. --C. Pitt.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dim Dim, a. [Compar. Dimmer; superl. Dimmest.] [AS. dim; akin to OFries. dim, Icel. dimmr: cf. MHG. timmer, timber; of uncertain origin.] 1. Not bright or distinct; wanting luminousness or clearness; obscure in luster or sound; dusky; darkish; obscure; indistinct; overcast; tarnished. The dim magnificence of poetry. --Whewell. How is the gold become dim! --Lam. iv. 1. I never saw The heavens so dim by day. --Shak. Three sleepless nights I passed in sounding on, Through words and things, a dim and perilous way. --Wordsworth. 2. Of obscure vision; not seeing clearly; hence, dull of apprehension; of weak perception; obtuse. Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow. --Job xvii. 7. The understanding is dim. --Rogers. Note: Obvious compounds: dim-eyed; dim-sighted, etc. Syn: Obscure; dusky; dark; mysterious; imperfect; dull; sullied; tarnished.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(dimmer, dimmest, dims, dimming, dimmed) 1. Dim light is not bright. She stood waiting, in the dim light... ADJ • dimly He followed her into a dimly lit kitchen. ADV: ADV after v, ADV -ed • dimness ...the dimness of an early September evening. N-UNCOUNT 2. A dim place is rather dark because there is not much light in it. The room was dim and cool and quiet. ADJ • dimness I squinted to adjust my eyes to the dimness. 3. A dim figure or object is not very easy to see, either because it is in shadow or darkness, or because it is far away. Pete's torch picked out the dim figures of Bob and Chang. = faint ADJ • dimly The shoreline could be dimly seen. ADV: usu ADV with v 4. If you have a dim memory or understanding of something, it is difficult to remember or is unclear in your mind. It seems that the '60s era of social activism is all but a dim memory. = hazy ADJ: usu ADJ n • dimly Christina dimly recalled the procedure... ADV: ADV with v, ADV adj 5. If the future of something is dim, you have no reason to feel hopeful or positive about it. The prospects for a peaceful solution are dim. ? bright ADJ 6. If you describe someone as dim, you think that they are stupid. (INFORMAL) ADJ 7. If you dim a light or if it dims, it becomes less bright. Dim the lighting–it is unpleasant to lie with a bright light shining in your eyes... The houselights dimmed. VERB: V n, V 8. If your future, hopes, or emotions dim or if something dims them, they become less good or less strong. Their economic prospects have dimmed... Forty eight years of marriage have not dimmed the passion between Bill and Helen. VERB: V, V n 9. If your memories dim or if something dims them, they become less clear in your mind. Their memory of what happened has dimmed... The intervening years had dimmed his memory. VERB: V, V n 10. to take a dim view: see view

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. 1. Dusky, dark, obscure, mysterious, indistinct, ill-defined, indefinite, shadowy, cloudy, faint. 2. Dull, obtuse, slow to see, slow of understanding or perception. 3. Darkened, obscured, clouded, faint, confused, shorn of its beams. 4. Tarnished, blurred, sullied, dulled, dull. II. v. a. Darken, obscure, cloud, sully, tarnish, dull.

Moby Thesaurus

achromatic, achromatize, achromic, amorphous, anemic, ashen, ashy, banausic, bandage, barely audible, becloud, bedarken, bedazzle, bedim, befog, begloom, benight, black, black out, blacken, blah, blanch, bleach, blear, blear-eyed, bleared, bleary, bleary-eyed, bled white, blind, blind the eyes, blindfold, block the light, bloodless, blot out, blunt, blunt-witted, blur, blurred, blurry, brown, cadaverous, caliginous, cast a shadow, chloranemic, clear as mud, cloud, cloud over, cloudy, colorless, confused, dark, dark-colored, darken, darken over, darkish, darkle, darksome, daze, dazzle, dead, deadly pale, deathly pale, decolor, decolorize, decrescendo, defocus, deprive of sight, dim out, dim-eyed, dim-sighted, dim-witted, dimmed, dimmish, dimpsy, dingy, discolor, discolored, distant, dopey, drain, drain of color, dreary, dull, dull of mind, dull-headed, dull-pated, dull-sighted, dull-witted, dusk, dusky, eclipse, encloud, encompass with shadow, etiolate, etiolated, excecate, exsanguinated, exsanguine, exsanguineous, fade, faded, faint, faint-voiced, fallow, fat-witted, feeble, feeble-eyed, film, filmy, filmy-eyed, flat, fog, foggy, fume, fuzzy, gentle, ghastly, glare, gloam, gloom, gloomy, gouge, gravel-blind, gray, gross-headed, grow dark, grow dim, haggard, half-blind, half-heard, half-seen, half-visible, haze, hazy, heavy, hebetudinous, hoodwink, hueless, humdrum, hypochromic, ill-defined, inconspicuous, indefinite, indeterminate, indistinct, indistinguishable, lackluster, leaden, livid, lose resolution, low, low-profile, lower, lurid, lusterless, make blind, mat, mealy, merely glimpsed, mist, misty, mole-eyed, monotone, monotonous, muddy, murk, murksome, murky, murmured, muted, nebulous, neutral, obfuscate, obnubilate, obscure, obtuse, obumbrate, occult, occultate, opaque, out of focus, overcast, overcloud, overshadow, pale, pale as death, pale-faced, pallid, pasty, pedestrian, peroxide, pianissimo, piano, poky, purblind, sallow, sand-blind, scarcely heard, semidark, semivisible, shade, shadow, shadowy, shapeless, sickly, slow, slow-witted, sluggish, snow-blind, soft, soft-sounding, soft-voiced, soften, somber, stodgy, strike blind, subaudible, subdued, subfusc, tallow-faced, tarnish, tenebrous, thick-brained, thick-headed, thick-pated, thick-witted, thickskulled, tone down, toneless, transcendent, uncertain, unclear, uncolored, undefined, undetermined, unilluminated, unplain, unrecognizable, vague, wan, wash out, washed-out, waxen, weak, weak-eyed, weak-voiced, whey-faced, whispered, white, whiten, wooden