Dullnesses

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The state of being uninteresting or lacking in excitement or liveliness
2. A quality characterized by a lack of sharpness or intensity, either in color or sound
3. The condition of being mentally or emotionally uninspired or slow to react

Etymology: "Dullnesses" is simply the plural of "dullness", so it is the form of a noun meaning the state of being dull. The base word "dull" is Old English and traces back through Proto-Germanic roots, which is where the older history lies. The suffix "-ness" is the more interesting part: it descends from Old English "-nes", a noun-forming ending that turned adjectives into names for qualities, as in "goodness" or "darkness". Middle English changed the ending to "-nesse" before it settled into the modern form. Because "dullness" is a regular combination of an adjective and a productive suffix, its plural "dullnesses" appears when speakers want to refer to several distinct instances or kinds of the quality, such as the different dullnesses of a colour or a sound.

Synonyms: bluntness, tameness, monotony, staleness

Antonyms: sharpness, liveliness, brightness