Word Study
dim
OXFORD DICTIONARY
dim, adj. & v.
--adj. (dimmer, dimmest)
1 a only faintly luminous or visible; not bright. b obscure; ill-defined.
2 not clearly perceived or remembered.
3 colloq. stupid; slow to understand.
4 (of the eyes) not seeing clearly.
--v. (dimmed, dimming)
1 tr. & intr. make or become dim or less bright.
2 tr. US dip (headlights).
--adj. (dimmer, dimmest)
1 a only faintly luminous or visible; not bright. b obscure; ill-defined.
2 not clearly perceived or remembered.
3 colloq. stupid; slow to understand.
4 (of the eyes) not seeing clearly.
--v. (dimmed, dimming)
1 tr. & intr. make or become dim or less bright.
2 tr. US dip (headlights).
Idiom
dim-wit colloq. a stupid person. dim-witted colloq. stupid, unintelligent. take a dim view of colloq.
1 disapprove of.
2 feel gloomy about.
1 disapprove of.
2 feel gloomy about.
Derivative
dimly adv. dimmish adj. dimness n.
Etymology
OE dim, dimm, of unkn. orig.
THESAURUS
dim
achromatic, achromatize, achromic, amorphous, anemic, ashen, ashy, banausic, bandage, barely audible, becloud, bedarken, bedazzle, bedim, befog, begloom, benight, black, black out, blacken, blah, blanch, bleach, blear, blear-eyed, bleared, bleary, bleary-eyed, bled white, blind, blind the eyes, blindfold, block the light, bloodless, blot out, blunt, blunt-witted, blur, blurred, blurry, brown, cadaverous, caliginous, cast a shadow, chloranemic, clear as mud, cloud, cloud over, cloudy, colorless, confused, dark, dark-colored, darken, darken over, darkish, darkle, darksome, daze, dazzle, dead, deadly pale, deathly pale, decolor, decolorize, decrescendo, defocus, deprive of sight, dim out, dim-eyed, dim-sighted, dim-witted, dimmed, dimmish, dimpsy, dingy, discolor, discolored, distant, dopey, drain, drain of color, dreary, dull, dull of mind, dull-headed, dull-pated, dull-sighted, dull-witted, dusk, dusky, eclipse, encloud, encompass with shadow, etiolate, etiolated, excecate, exsanguinated, exsanguine, exsanguineous, fade, faded, faint, faint-voiced, fallow, fat-witted, feeble, feeble-eyed, film, filmy, filmy-eyed, flat, fog, foggy, fume, fuzzy, gentle, ghastly, glare, gloam, gloom, gloomy, gouge, gravel-blind, gray, gross-headed, grow dark, grow dim, haggard, half-blind, half-heard, half-seen, half-visible, haze, hazy, heavy, hebetudinous, hoodwink, hueless, humdrum, hypochromic, ill-defined, inconspicuous, indefinite, indeterminate, indistinct, indistinguishable, lackluster, leaden, livid, lose resolution, low, low-profile, lower, lurid, lusterless, make blind, mat, mealy, merely glimpsed, mist, misty, mole-eyed, monotone, monotonous, muddy, murk, murksome, murky, murmured, muted, nebulous, neutral, obfuscate, obnubilate, obscure, obtuse, obumbrate, occult, occultate, opaque, out of focus, overcast, overcloud, overshadow, pale, pale as death, pale-faced, pallid, pasty, pedestrian, peroxide, pianissimo, piano, poky, purblind, sallow, sand-blind, scarcely heard, semidark, semivisible, shade, shadow, shadowy, shapeless, sickly, slow, slow-witted, sluggish, snow-blind, soft, soft-sounding, soft-voiced, soften, somber, stodgy, strike blind, subaudible, subdued, subfusc, tallow-faced, tarnish, tenebrous, thick-brained, thick-headed, thick-pated, thick-witted, thickskulled, tone down, toneless, transcendent, uncertain, unclear, uncolored, undefined, undetermined, unilluminated, unplain, unrecognizable, vague, wan, wash out, washed-out, waxen, weak, weak-eyed, weak-voiced, whey-faced, whispered, white, whiten, woodenROGET THESAURUS
dim
Darkness
VB be dark, darken, obscure, shade, dim, tone down, lower, overcast, overshadow, eclipse, obfuscate, offuscate, obumbrate, adumbrate, cast into the shade becloud, bedim, bedarken, cast a shade, throw a shade, spread a shade, cast a shadow, cast a gloom, throw a shadow, spread a shadow, cast gloom, throw gloom, spread gloom, extinguish, put out, blow out, snuff out, doubt, turn out the lights, douse the lights, dim the lights, turn off the lights, switch off the lights.Dimness
VB be dim, grow dim, flicker, twinkle, glimmer, loom, lower, fade, pale, pale its ineffectual fire, render dim, dim, bedim, obscure, darken, tone down.N dimness, darkness, paleness, half light, demi-jour, partial shadow, partial eclipse, shadow of a shade, glimmer, gliming, nebulosity, cloud, eclipse, aurora, dusk, twilight, shades of evening, crepuscule, cockshut time, break of day, daybreak, dawn, moonlight, moonbeam, moonglade, moonshine, starlight, owl's light, candlelight, rushlight, firelight, farthing candle, dim, dull, lackluster, dingy, darkish, shorn of its beams, dark, faint, shadowed forth, glassy, cloudy, misty, blear, muggy, fuliginous, nebulous, nebular, obnubilated, overcast, crepuscular, muddy, lurid, leaden, dun, dirty, looming, pale, confused.
Opacity
N opacity, opaqueness, film, cloud, opaque, impervious to light, adiaphanous, dim, turbid, thick, muddy, opacous, obfuscated, fuliginous, cloud, hazy, misty, foggy, vaporous, nubiferous, muggy, smoky, fumid, murky, dirty.Invisibility
N invisibility, invisibleness, nonappearance, imperceptibility, indistinctness, mystery, delitescence, concealment, latency, invisible, imperceptible, undiscernible, indiscernible, unapparent, non-apparent, out of sight, not in sight, a perte de vue, behind the scenes, behind the curtain, viewless, sightless, inconspicuous, unconspicuous, unseen &c (see), covert, eclipsed, under an eclipse, dim, mysterious, dark, obscure, confused, indistinct, indistinguishable, shadowy, indefinite, undefined, ill- defined, ill-marked, blurred, fuzzy, out of focus, misty, delitescent, hidden, obscured, covered, veiled (concealed), full many a flower is born to blush unseen.Unintelligibility
N unintelligibility, incomprehensibility, imperspicuity, inconceivableness, vagueness, obscurity, ambiguity, doubtful meaning, uncertainty, perplexity, spinosity, obscurum per obscurius, mystification, latency, transcendentalism, paradox, oxymoron, riddle, enigma, puzzle, diagnus vindice nodus, sealed book, steganography, freemasonry, pons asinorum, asses' bridge, high Dutch, Greek, Hebrew, jargon, unintelligible, unaccountable, undecipherable, undiscoverable, unknowable, unfathomable, incognizable, inexplicable, inscrutable, inapprehensible, incomprehensible, insolvable, insoluble, impenetrable, illegible, as Greek to one, unexplained, paradoxical, enigmatic, enigmatical, puzzling (secret), indecipherable, obscure, dark, muddy, clear as mud, seen through a mist, dim, nebulous, shrouded in mystery, opaque, dense, undiscernible, misty, hidden, latent, indefinite, garbled, perplexed, undetermined, vague, loose, ambiguous, mysterious, mystic, mystical, acroamatic, acroamatical, metempirical, transcendental, occult, recondite, abstruse, crabbed, inconceivable, inconceptible, searchless, above comprehension, beyond comprehension, past comprehension, beyond one's depth, unconceived, inexpressible, undefinable, incommunicable, unpredictable, unforeseeable, it's Greek to me.For further exploring for "dim" in Webster Dictionary Online