Meanings
alternative dull as ditchwater
- not comparablesimileBoring; ordinary; exceedingly dull.
‘My blessed Public must have a pretty girl’s face. Romance isn’t romance, adventure is as dull as dishwater...to my Public...unless, every so often, a face to sink a thousand ships, or is it saps? shows up.’
1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 6Synonyms: boring as beans
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveBoring; ordinary; exceedingly dull.
Origin
Modified from dull as ditchwater (1700s) in the first half of the 1900s, perhaps through mispronunciation.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Dutch doodsaai
- doodsaaiextremely boring
Finnish tylsä kuin mikä, umpitylsä
- tylsä kuin mikäextremely boring
- umpitylsäextremely boring
French chiant comme la pluie
- chiant comme la pluieextremely boring
Polish nudny jak flaki z olejem
- nudny jak flaki z olejemextremely boring
Cite this entry
dull as dishwater. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dull%20as%20dishwater
“dull as dishwater.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dull%20as%20dishwater. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dull as dishwater,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dull%20as%20dishwater.
Source: dull as dishwater on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.