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]
 dimmest
      See dim