dim
adjectivenounverbadjectiveattested in dialogue
- //dɪm//
Not bright or colorful.
adjective
- 1
Not bright or colorful.
The lighting was too dim for me to make out his facial features.
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
- 2
Not smart or intelligent.
He may be a bit dim, but he's not entirely stupid.
- 3
Indistinct, hazy or unclear.
His vision grew dimmer as he aged.
- 4
Disapproving, unfavorable: rarely used outside the phrase take a dim view of.
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”).
noun
- 1
archaicDimness.
All about me the Red Weed clambered among the ruins, writhing to get above me in the dim. Night, the Mother of Fear and Mystery, was coming upon me.
verb
- 1
To make something less bright.
He dimmed the lights and put on soft music.
- 2
To become darker.
The lights dimmed briefly when the air conditioning was turned on.
- 3
To render dim, obscure, or dark; to make less bright or distinct.
a king among his courtiers,[…] who out to dim the lustre of all his attendants
Now ſet the ſun, and twilight dimm'd the ways, […]
- 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.
And with our Sun-bright armour as we march, Weel chaſe the Starrs from heauen, and dim their eies That ſtand and muſe at our admyred armes.
Her starry eyes were dimm'd with streaming tears.
- 5
figurativeTo diminish, dull, or curtail.
All these setbacks had started to dim the hopes of the students.
Nothing will dim their spirit of resilience.
A glut might dim the outlook for grain futures.
adjective
- 1
Variant of diminishedClipping of diminished.
Forms
- comparative
- dimmer
- superlative
- dimmest
- past tense
- dimmed
- past participle
- dimmed
- present participle
- dimming
- third person singular
- dims