DIM: Synonyms and Related Words. What is Another Word for DIM?

Need another word that means the same as “dim”? Find 94 synonyms and 30 related words for “dim” in this overview.

The synonyms of “Dim” are: subdued, dense, dull, dumb, obtuse, slow, faint, shadowy, vague, wispy, black, bleak, dimmed, weak, feeble, soft, pale, dingy, muted, flat, lustreless, indistinct, ill-defined, unclear, imperceptible, nebulous, obscured, blurred, blurry, fuzzy, bleary, dark, darkish, sombre, dismal, gloomy, dusky, murky, imprecise, imperfect, confused, sketchy, hazy, foggy, obscure, remote, unpromising, unfavourable, discouraging, disheartening, depressing, dispiriting, stupid, unintelligent, ignorant, brainless, mindless, foolish, slow-witted, witless, simple-minded, empty-headed, vacuous, vapid, half-witted, idiotic, moronic, imbecilic, imbecile, doltish, dip, blind, blur, slur, grow faint, grow feeble, grow dim, fade, grow dark, darken, blacken, cloud over, become overcast, grow leaden, lour, become gloomy, turn down, lower, become vague, become indistinct, become blurred, become shadowy, become confused

Dim as a Verb

Definitions of "Dim" as a verb

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “dim” as a verb can have the following definitions:

• Make or become less intense.
• Switch (a car's headlights) from a higher to a lower beam.
• Make dim by comparison or conceal.
• Become dim or lusterless.
• Make or become less able to see clearly.
• Lower the beam of (a vehicle's headlights) to avoid dazzling oncoming drivers.
• Become vague or indistinct.
• Make or become less bright or distinct.
• Make dim or lusterless.

Synonyms of "Dim" as a verb (24 Words)

become blurred	Enhance the appearance of.
become confused	Enter or assume a certain state or condition.
become gloomy	Undergo a change or development.
become indistinct	Enhance the appearance of.
become overcast	Undergo a change or development.
become shadowy	Enhance the appearance of.
become vague	Undergo a change or development.
blacken	Burn slightly and superficially so as to affect color. Stone blackened by the soot of ages.
blind	Make blind by putting the eyes out. I could see the bombs blinding along above the roof tops.
blur	Make unclear indistinct or blurred. In front of him the page blurred.
cloud over	Make less visible or unclear.
darken	Make or become dark or darker. His mood darkened.
dip	Dip into a liquid while eating. I had to dip into my savings to buy him this present.
dull	Make or become dull or less intense. Time dulls the memory.
fade	Become feeble. The scene begins to fade.
grow dark	Become attached by or as if by the process of growth.
grow dim	Come into existence; take on form or shape.
grow faint	Become larger, greater, or bigger; expand or gain.
grow feeble	Come into existence; take on form or shape.
grow leaden	Cultivate by growing, often involving improvements by means of agricultural techniques.
lour	Make lower or quieter.
lower	Move something or somebody to a lower position. Lower a rating.
slur	Mark notes with a slur. The pianist slurred the most beautiful passage in the sonata.
turn down	Change to the contrary.

Usage Examples of "Dim" as a verb

• A smoky inferno that dimmed the sun.
• Time had dimmed the silver.
• His eyes dimmed.
• The difficulty in sleeping couldn't dim her happiness.
• The lights dimmed and the curtains parted.
• The lights dimmed and the curtain rose.
• The car moved slowly, its headlights dimmed.

Dim as an Adjective

Definitions of "Dim" as an adjective

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “dim” as an adjective can have the following definitions:

• Lacking in light; not bright or harsh.
• Slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity- Thackeray.
• (of a situation) not giving cause for hope or optimism.
• (of a sound) indistinct or muffled.
• (of a light, colour, or illuminated object) not shining brightly or clearly.
• (of a room or other space) made difficult to see in by darkness.
• Offering little or no hope.
• Offering little or no hope- J.M.Synge.
• Slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity.
• Not clearly recalled or formulated in the mind.
• Lacking clarity or distinctness.
• (of the eyes) unable to see clearly.
• (of an object or shape) made difficult to see by darkness, shade, or distance.
• Made dim or less bright.
• Stupid or slow to understand.

Synonyms of "Dim" as an adjective (70 Words)

black	Of a ski run of the highest level of difficulty as indicated by black markers positioned along it. Jean had disappeared and Mary was in a black mood.
bleak	Offering little or no hope- J.M.Synge. Bleak winds of the North Atlantic.
bleary	Indistinct or hazy in outline. Boris opened a bleary eye.
blurred	Unclear in form or expression. The blurred distinctions between childhood and adulthood.
blurry	Perceived or remembered indistinctly. Vision may be hazy or blurry for a few days after surgery.
brainless	Stupid; very foolish. A brainless bimbo.
confused	Mentally confused unable to think with clarity or act intelligently. Reports about the incident were rather confused.
dark	Of a person having dark skin hair or eyes. Dark as the inside of a black cat.
darkish	Marked by difficulty of style or expression. Darkish red.
dense	Hard to pass through because of dense growth. She made her way through the dense undergrowth.
depressing	Causing sad feelings of gloom and inadequacy. The mortgage rate increase will have a depressing effect on the housing market.
dimmed	Lacking clarity or distinctness. The dimmed houselights brought a hush of anticipation.
dingy	Causing dejection. A dingy room.
discouraging	Expressing disapproval. Where never is heard a discouraging word.
disheartening	Destructive of morale and self-reliance. Her death is particularly disheartening because it was preventable.
dismal	Pitifully or disgracefully bad. The dismal weather made the late afternoon seem like evening.
dispiriting	Causing someone to lose enthusiasm and hope; disheartening. It was a dispiriting occasion.
doltish	Heavy and dull and stupid. A doltish character.
dull	Lacking brightness, vividness, or sheen. There was a dull pain in his lower jaw.
dumb	Slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity- Thackeray. A dumb question.
dusky	Used in names of animals with dark coloration e g dusky dolphin dusky warbler. The dusky night rides down the sky And ushers in the morn.
empty-headed	Lacking seriousness; given to frivolity.
faint	(of a sight, smell, or sound) barely perceptible. Faint resistance.
feeble	Lacking bodily or muscular strength or vitality. A feeble excuse.
flat	Flattened laterally along the whole length e g certain leafstalks or flatfishes. Flat wall paint.
foggy	Unable to think clearly; confused. A dark and foggy night.
foolish	Having or revealing stupidity. He was foolish enough to confide in her.
fuzzy	(of a person or the mind) unable to think clearly; confused. That fuzzy line between right and wrong.
gloomy	Depressingly dark. A dark gloomy day.
half-witted	Retarded in intellectual development.
hazy	Indistinct or hazy in outline. School leavers were often hazy about employment.
idiotic	Having a mental age of three to seven years. I was able to hum its idiotic theme tune.
ignorant	Angry or quick-tempered. He was completely ignorant of the circumstances.
ill-defined	Poorly stated or described.
imbecile	Having a mental age of three to seven years. Try not to make imbecile remarks.
imbecilic	Having a mental age of three to seven years.
imperceptible	Impossible or difficult to perceive by the mind or senses. An imperceptible drop in temperature.
imperfect	(of a tense) denoting a past action in progress but not completed at the time in question. Drainage here is imperfect.
imprecise	Lacking exactness and accuracy of expression or detail. The witness could give only vague and imprecise descriptions.
indistinct	Not clear or sharply defined. Indistinct shapes in the gloom.
lustreless	Not bright or shiny; dull. Her uncombed lustreless black hair.
mindless	Not marked by the use of reason. Mindless violence.
moronic	Having a mental age of between eight and twelve years. Television s latest moronic soap opera.
murky	Obscure or morally questionable. Murky rooms lit by smoke blackened lamps.
muted	Being or made softer or less loud or clear. Muted anger.
nebulous	Lacking definition or definite content. Nebulous reasons.
obscure	Not clearly understood or expressed-Anatole Broyard- P.A.So. An obscure village.
obscured	Not drawing attention.
obtuse	Difficult to understand, especially deliberately so. It had strange obtuse teeth.
pale	Very light colored; highly diluted with white. The pale or wan stars.
remote	Denoting a device which can only be accessed by means of a network. A remote contingency.
shadowy	Of uncertain identity or nature. Strange fancies of unreal and shadowy worlds.
simple-minded	Lacking mental capacity and subtlety.
sketchy	Not thorough or detailed. A sketchy neighbourhood.
slow	Of a sports field or ground likely to make the ball bounce or run slowly or to prevent competitors from travelling fast. He was slow in reacting to the news.
slow-witted	Retarded in intellectual development.
soft	Used chiefly as a direction or description in music soft in a quiet subdued tone. Her hair felt very soft.
sombre	Having or conveying a feeling of deep seriousness and sadness. He looked at her with a sombre expression.
subdued	In a softened tone. I felt strangely subdued as I drove home.
unclear	Not clear to the mind. Users are still unclear about what middleware does.
unfavourable	Expressing or showing a lack of approval or support. Single mothers are often the target of unfavourable press attention.
unintelligent	Having or showing a low level of intelligence. A dull job with lazy and unintelligent co workers.
unpromising	Unlikely to bring about favorable results or enjoyment. Music for unpromising combinations of instruments.
vacuous	Devoid of intelligence. Vacuous comments.
vague	Thinking or communicating in an unfocused or imprecise way. Vague feelings of sadness.
vapid	Lacking taste or flavor or tang. A bunch of vapid schoolgirls.
weak	Relating to or denoting the weakest of the known kinds of force between particles which acts only at distances less than about 10 cm is very much weaker than the electromagnetic and the strong interactions and conserves neither strangeness parity nor isospin. A weak president.
wispy	(of hair, threads, smoke, etc.) fine; feathery. A few wispy memories of childhood.
witless	Lacking sense or understanding or judgment. He was scared witless.

Usage Examples of "Dim" as an adjective

• Took a dim view of things.
• The dimmed houselights brought a hush of anticipation.
• Long dim corridors.
• Dimmed headlights.
• Dim memories.
• His eyes became dim.
• We like dimmed lights when we have dinner.
• The matter was in the dim and distant past.
• You're just incredibly dim.
• Never met anyone quite so dim.
• A dim figure in the distance.
• A dim figure in the dark kitchen.
• A dim light beside the bed.
• Their prospects for the future looked fairly dim.
• The dim drone of their voices.
• The dim glow of the fire.

Associations of "Dim" (30 Words)

blur	Make unclear indistinct or blurred. The day before was a blur.
blurred	Unclear in form or expression- H.G.Wells. A landscape of blurred outlines.
blurry	Indistinct or hazy in outline. Video projectors provided extremely blurry images.
cave	Hollow out as if making a cave or opening. They say they cave for the adventure challenge and physical exercise.
cloudy	Uncertain; unclear. A very grey cloudy day.
dark	Used of color having a dark hue. Dark eyes.
darkling	Growing dark or characterized by darkness. The darkling sky.
darkness	An unenlightened state. He moved off into the darkness.
dusky	Used in names of animals with dark coloration e g dusky dolphin dusky warbler. A dusky complexion.
fade	Gradually ceasing to be visible. The ball faded toward an area left of the green.
faint	Lacking clarity or distinctness. Faint heart ne er won fair lady.
hazy	Indistinct or hazy in outline. It was a beautiful day but quite hazy.
inconspicuous	Not clearly visible or attracting attention. He pushed the string through an inconspicuous hole.
indistinct	Not clearly defined or easy to perceive or understand. Indistinct shapes in the gloom.
murkiness	An atmosphere in which visibility is reduced because of a cloud of some substance.
obfuscate	Make obscure or unclear. The spelling changes will deform some familiar words and obfuscate their etymological origins.
obscure	Make obscure or unclear. An impulse to go off and fight certain obscure battles of his own spirit.
overshadow	Cast a shadow upon. He was always overshadowed by his brilliant elder brother.
puzzling	Not clear to the understanding. Only one very puzzling question remains unanswered.
shadow	Cast a shadow over. The poor child was his mother s shadow.
shadowy	Lacking in substance- W.A.Butler. A long shadowy cobbled passage.
shady	Unscrupulous. They sprawled under a shady carob tree.
subtlety	The quality or state of being subtle. The textural subtlety of Degas.
swarthy	Naturally having skin of a dark color. Swarthy men with gleaming teeth.
tenebrous	Dark and gloomy. A tenebrous cave.
turbid	Clouded as with sediment. A turbid piece of cin ma v rit.
unclear	Not obvious or definite; ambiguous. Their future remains unclear.
unintelligible	Hard or impossible to understand. Dolphin sounds are unintelligible to humans.
vague	Lacking clarity or distinctness. Their descriptions of human behavior become vague dull and unclear.
wispy	Lacking clarity or distinctness. The sky was blue with a few wispy clouds.