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Lackluster may describe things that are dull, but the word itself is no yawn. In its earliest uses in the early 17th century, lackluster (also spelled lacklustre) usually described eyes that were dull or lacking in brightness, as in “a lackluster stare.” Later, it came to describe other things whose sheen had been removed; Charles Dickens, in his 1844 novel Martin Chuzzlewit, writes of the faded image of the dragon on the sign outside a village alehouse: “many a wintry storm of rain, snow, sleet, and hail, had changed his colour from a gaudy blue to a faint lack-lustre shade of grey.” These days lackluster is broadly used to describe anything blah, from a spiritless sensation to a humdrum hump day.
Examples of lackluster in a Sentence
Daniel De Visé, USA TODAY, 21 Nov. 2024
Cinema operators need patrons to gorge on film offerings to salvage a lackluster year at the movies.
—Variety, NBC News, 5 Nov. 2024
There simply weren’t enough game balls to go around after the Chargers’ 27-10 rout of the Cleveland Browns, their second consecutive comprehensive victory after a lackluster loss in the final seconds to the Arizona Cardinals on Oct. 21 cast doubts about their fitness as a playoff contender.
—Elliott Teaford, Orange County Register, 4 Nov. 2024
This creates a clear disconnect between the company’s relatively strong fundamentals and its lackluster stock price.
—Trefis Team, Forbes, 1 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for lackluster 
Cite this Entry
“Lackluster.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lackluster. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.
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lackluster
adjective
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