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dim

Pronunciation: /dɪm/

The English word “dim” has 10 meanings listed here.

adjective

  1. Not bright or colorful.
  2. Not smart or intelligent.
  3. Indistinct, hazy or unclear.
  4. Disapproving, unfavorable: rarely used outside the phrase take a dim view of.

noun

  1. Dimness.

verb

  1. To make something less bright.
  2. To become darker.
  3. To render dim, obscure, or dark; to make less bright or distinct.
  4. To deprive of distinct vision; to hinder from seeing clearly, either by dazzling or clouding the eyes; to darken the senses or understanding of.
  5. To diminish, dull, or curtail.

Etymology

From Middle English dim, dym, from Old English dim, dimm (“dim, dark, gloomy; wretched, grievous, sad, unhappy”), from Proto-West Germanic *dimm, from Proto-Germanic *dimmaz (“dark”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰem- (“to whisk, smoke; obscure”). Compare Faroese dimmur (“dark”), Icelandic dimmur (“dark”) and dimma (“darkness”).

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.