dim

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B1 — Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. verb switch (a car's headlights) from a higher to a lower beam
  2. verb become dim or lusterless
  3. verb make dim or lusterless

Etymology

From Middle English dim, dym, from Old English dim, dimm (“dim, dark, gloomy; wretched, grievous, sad, unhappy”), from Proto-West Germanic *dimm, from Proto-Germanic *dimmaz (“dark”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰem- (“to whisk, smoke; obscure”). Compare Faroese dimmur (“dark”), Icelandic dimmur (“dark”) and dimma (“darkness”).

In classic literature

Synonyms

dip

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