I. ˈdim adjective
( dimmer ; dimmest )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English; akin to Old High German timber dark, Old Norse dimmr dark, gloomy, Middle Irish dem black, dark, Greek themer ōpis grave-looking, Sanskrit dhamati he blows
1.
a. : not bright : emitting a limited or insufficient amount of light
the moon is dim on a cloudy night
b. : of a dull or subdued shade or tint : lacking brightness or clarity
the iris was of a peculiar soft or dim and tender red — W.H.Hudson †1922
c. : lacking pronounced, clear-cut, or vigorous quality or character
dim affairs with women in which he flirts in a scared way — Anthony West
d. slang : boring , dull
a pretty dim celebration
2.
a. : seen indistinctly : without clear outlines or details : scarcely visible
the dim distances of his own Mississippi river country — Sherwood Anderson
b. : indistinctly or faintly perceived by the senses : of low volume or strength
the dim strumming of a guitar
strawberry leaves sent up their sweet dim smell — Edith Sitwell
c. : perceived by the mind indistinctly or with difficulty
a dim awareness of his environment
: indistinctly known or remembered
the dim centuries of the later empire — Roger Fry
: sensed or perceived weakly in an emotional or intuitional manner
led … early man to a dim feeling for symbolism — Edward Sapir
: of a hazy or indefinite nature
claimed some dim relationship with Houdini — R.G.G.Price
d. : having little prospect of favorable result or outcome
a dim future
: unlikely to be fulfilled or realized
the dim expectancy that he might return — Ann Ryan
e. : characterized by an unfavorable, skeptical, pessimistic, disapproving, or unenthusiastic attitude — usually used in the phrase take a dim view of
he takes a dim view of human nature
the villagers take a dim view of people who try to impress them
3.
a. : not perceiving clearly and distinctly with one of the senses (as sight)
eyes grown dim with age
b. : dull and weak in understanding or comprehension
big and overdeveloped and dim in her wits — Louis Bromfield
Synonyms: see dark
II. verb
( dimmed ; dimmed ; dimming ; dims )
Etymology: Middle English dimmen, from dim, adjective
transitive verb
1. : to make dim
dim the theater lights
the years could not dim his early love
the incident dimmed the prospects for peace
2. : to reduce the light from (headlights) by switching to the low beam
intransitive verb
: to become dim
her fame and beauty dimmed rapidly
the way the lights dim in a farmhouse during a storm — John Cheever
Synonyms: see obscure
III. noun
( -s )
1. archaic : dimness , dusk
2.
a. : parking light
put his lights on the dim and pulled into the curb — Erle Stanley Gardner
b. : low beam
IV. abbreviation
1. dimension
2.
[Latin dimidium ]
half
3. diminished
4. diminuendo
5. diminutive