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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Dim \Dim\, adjective [Compar. {Dimmer}; superl. {Dimmest}.] [AS. dim; akin to OFries. dim, Icel. dimmr: cf. MHG. timmer, timber; of uncertain origin.]
1. Not bright or distinct; wanting luminousness or clearness; obscure in luster or sound; dusky; darkish; obscure; indistinct; overcast; tarnished.
The dim magnificence of poetry. --Whewell.
How is the gold become dim! --Lam. iv. 1.
I never saw The heavens so dim by day. --Shak.
Three sleepless nights I passed in sounding on, Through words and things, a dim and perilous way. --Wordsworth.
2. Of obscure vision; not seeing clearly; hence, dull of apprehension; of weak perception; obtuse.
Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow. --Job xvii. 7.
The understanding is dim. --Rogers.
Note: Obvious compounds: dim-eyed; dim-sighted, etc.
Syn: Obscure; dusky; dark; mysterious; imperfect; dull; sullied; tarnished.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
dim
adjective
1: lacking in light; not bright or harsh; "a dim light beside the bed"; "subdued lights and soft music" [syn: {subdued}]
2: lacking clarity or distinctness; "a dim figure in the distance"; "only a faint recollection"; "shadowy figures in the gloom"; "saw a vague outline of a building through the fog"; "a few wispy memories of childhood" [syn: {faint}, {shadowy}, {vague}, {wispy}]
3: made dim or less bright; "the dimmed houselights brought a hush of anticipation"; "dimmed headlights"; "we like dimmed lights when we have dinner" [syn: {dimmed}] [ant: {undimmed}]
4: offering little or no hope; "the future looked black"; "prospects were bleak"; "Life in the Aran Islands has always been bleak and difficult"- J.M.Synge; "took a dim view of things" [syn: {black}, {bleak}]
5: slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity; "so dense he never understands anything I say to him"; "never met anyone quite so dim"; "although dull at classical learning, at mathematics he was uncommonly quick"- Thackeray; "dumb officials make some really dumb decisions"; "he was either normally stupid or being deliberately obtuse"; "worked with the slow students" [syn: {dense}, {dull}, {dumb}, {obtuse}, {slow}]
verb
1: switch (a car's headlights) from a higher to a lower beam [syn: {dip}]
2: become or make darker; "The screen darkend"; "He darkened the colors by adding brown" [syn: {darken}] [ant: {brighten}]
3: become dim or lusterless; "the lights dimmed and the curtain rose"
4: make dim or lusterless; "Time had dimmed the silver"
5: make dim by comparison or conceal [syn: {blind}]
6: become vague or indistinct; "The distinction between the two theories blurred" [syn: {blur}, {slur}] [ant: {focus}] [also: {dimming}, {dimmed}, {dimmest}, {dimmer}]
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
dimmer
noun: a rheostat that varies the current through an electric light in order to control the level of illumination
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
dimmer See {dim}
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