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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
Hunter Bailey, Charlotte Observer, 10 Sep. 2025
Last week, the Labor Department reported lackluster job growth during the summer months, with employers adding just 22,000 jobs in August and a net loss of jobs in June for the first time since the pandemic winter of 2020.
—Maria Aspan, NPR, 9 Sep. 2025
The data follows the lackluster August jobs report that helped fuel investor hope that the Federal Reserve is all but assured to lower benchmark interest rates at its policy meeting later this month.
—Brian Evans, CNBC, 7 Sep. 2025
Having inherited that same staff’s lackluster receiving corps, McDaniels is also making due with his stable of running backs.
—Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 7 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for lackluster
Cite this Entry
“Lackluster.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lackluster. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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lackluster
adjective
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