DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan
Dim a. [Compar. Dimmer superl. Dimmest ]
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.
dim
adj 1: lacking in light; not bright or harsh; "a dim light beside
the bed"; "subdued lights and soft music" [syn: 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: 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] [ant: 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]
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, dull, dumb, obtuse, slow]
v 1: switch (a car's headlights) from a higher to a lower beam
[syn: dip]
2: become or make darker; "The screen darkend"; "He darkened
the colors by adding brown" [syn: darken] [ant: brighten]
3: become dim or lusterless; "the lights dimmed and the curtain
rose"
4: make dim or lusterless; "Time had dimmed the silver"
5: make dim by comparison or conceal [syn: blind]
6: become vague or indistinct; "The distinction between the two
theories blurred" [syn: blur, slur] [ant: focus]
[also: dimming, dimmed, dimmest, dimmer]