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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
Trefis Team, Forbes.com, 3 July 2025
The lackluster Marion County Dems There's a lot of finger-pointing among Indiana Democrats right now over why the county party in the state's largest Democratic core, Marion County, is not living up to its potential in terms of voter turnout and fundraising.
—Kayla Dwyer, IndyStar, 2 July 2025
Johnson said, noting lackluster test scores for current ESA students.
—Vivian Jones, The Tennessean, 2 July 2025
Conversations shifted from celebrating the end of lockdowns to bemoaning lackluster consumption.
—Evelyn Cheng, CNBC, 2 July 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 16 Jul. 2025.
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lackluster
adjective
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