dim Hear it!

dim¹ Definition

dim (dim)

adjective dim′·mer, dim′·mest

  1. not bright; somewhat dark
  2. not clear or distinct in character; lacking definition, distinction, strength, etc.
  3. without luster; dull
  4. not clearly seen, heard, perceived, or understood; vague
  5. not clearly seeing, hearing, understanding, etc.
  6. not likely to turn out well dim prospects
  7. Informal lacking intelligence; stupid

Etymology: ME < OE, akin to ON dimmr, dark < IE base *dhem-, to be dusty, misty > damp, Ger dunkel, dark

transitive verb dimmed, dim′·ming

  1. to make dim
  2. to make seem dim, as by comparison
  3. to turn (headlights) down by switching from high to low beam

intransitive verb

to grow dim

noun

  1. Archaic dim light; dimness; dusk
  2. headlights on a low-beam setting

dim¹ Related Forms
dim′ly adverb dim′·ness noun
dim¹ Idioms

take a dim view of

to view skeptically, pessimistically, etc.

dim² Definition

dim

  1. dimension
  2. diminutive

dim Synonyms

dim

modif.

faint, dusky, shadowy; see dark 1. See syn. study at dark.

take a dim view of

suspect, disapprove, be skeptical about; see doubt 2, oppose 1.

dim Usage Examples

Object

  • light: And don't dim the lights to show your slides at the expense of students no longer being able to see you.
  • lighting: They traveled deep into the night with dimmed lighting to evade detection from the many Japanese planes constantly patrolling the area.
  • memory: Time heals when it dims memories of troubles and losses to allow us to get on with our lives.
  • screen: It is normal to dim the screen to save power in battery mode.

Modifies a noun

  • ond: Mae hynny o gymharu â dim ond 2.6 y cant yn Lloegr.
  • switch: Bright pupils will be provided with dimmer switches to prevent them distracting the rest of the class.
  • glow: Lamps can be adjusted from a dim glow to bright light!
  • recollection: The hero himself has only the dimmest recollections of his early past.
  • sum: All I need now is to try some of their dim sum.
  • lighting: Some dim lighting is provided in the largest of these dark spots preventing total blackout.

Modifying Another Word

  • slightly: Based on a manga, the film's hero is a slightly dim young man who under hypnosis becomes a killing machine.
  • somewhat: All wavelengths of light passing through a dust cloud will be dimmed somewhat.
  • rather: Whenever I spoke with her she seemed rather dim to be honest.
  • automatically: An employe will that home owner insurance rate automatically dim many of the.
  • too: The lights are not too bright or too dim, they are comfortable for the eyes.
  • pretty: Needless to say, the authors take a pretty dim view of feminism.

Used with why or when

  • when: This makes sense as some of the dash lights do go dim when the ignition is on although interior lights etc are okay.

Used with adjective complement

  • grow: EARTH: Beginning about 1960, Earth's surface grew dimmer by 4 6 percent.
  • appear: He derived the distances from inverse square law of brightness: clusters farther away should appear dimmer.

Preposition: with

  • tear: Those eyes that had been dimmed with human tears, how different now!
dim Quotes

Had I the heavens'embroidered cloths, Enwrought with golden and silver light, The blue and the dim and the dark cloths Of night and light and the half-light, I would spread the cloths under your feet: But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

—Yeats,W(illiam) B(utler)

The loathsome mask has fallen, the man remains Sceptreless, free, uncircumscribed, but man Equal, unclassed, tribeless, and nationless, Exempt from awe, worship, degree, the king Over himself; just, gentle, wise: but man Passionless?öno, yet free from guilt or pain, Which were, for his will made or suffered them, Nor yet exempt, though ruling them like slaves, From chance, and death, and mutability, The clogs of that which else might oversoar The loftiest star of unascended heaven, Pinnacled dim in the intense inane.

—Shelley, Percy Bysshe

I write fiction and I'm told it's autobiography, I write autobiography and I'm told it's fiction, so since I'm so dim and they're so smart, let them decide what it is or it isn't.

—Roth, Philip Milton