dull as dishwater

(as) dull as dishwater

Very boring or unexciting. This phrase is often used to describe a person. My date with Dave was not great—he is as dull as dishwater. I fell asleep during that movie because it was as dull as dishwater.
See also: dishwater, dull
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

*dull as dishwater

 and *dull as ditch water
very uninteresting. (*Also: as ~.) I'm not surprised that he can't find a partner. He's as dull as dishwater. Mr. Black's speech was as dull as dishwater.
See also: dishwater, dull
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

dull as dishwater

Boring, tedious, as in That lecture was dull as dishwater. The original simile, dull as ditchwater, dating from the 1700s, alluded to the muddy water in roadside ditches. In the first half of the 1900s, perhaps through mispronunciation, it became dishwater, that is, the dingy, grayish water in which dirty dishes had soaked.
See also: dishwater, dull
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

dull as dishwater (or ditchwater)

extremely dull.
See also: dishwater, dull
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

dull as dishwater

verb
See as dull as dishwater
See also: dishwater, dull
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

dull as dishwater

Flat, boring. This expression began life in the eighteenth century as dull as ditchwater, alluding to the muddy color of the water in roadside gullies. “He’d be sharper than a serpent’s tooth, if he wasn’t as dull as ditchwater,” says Dickens’s Fanny Cleaver (Oliver Twist). This version survived on both sides of the Atlantic well into the twentieth century. Either through careless pronunciation or through similar analogy it occasionally became dishwater—water in which dishes had been washed and which consequently was dingy and grayish.
See also: dishwater, dull
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • (as) dull as dishwater
  • as dull as dishwater
  • dishwater
  • dull
  • be as dull as dishwater
  • (as) dull as ditchwater
  • dull as ditchwater
  • ditch
  • ditchwater
  • be like watching grass grow
References in periodicals archive
But now it is dull as dishwater, so uber cool resident Nick Grimshaw is planning to pack up his vintage bags and move East.
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Dull as dishwater Prestwick could be Rabbie Burns International, Aberdeen could not be anything other than Sir Alex Ferguson, Dundee could be William McGonagall, Edinburgh Shirr Shawn, but Glasgow would probably find an obscure cooncillor, although I'd go for Chic Murray.
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The distant memory that was Fame Academy was dull as dishwater and Just The Two Of Us is excruciatingly bad.
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She's assisted by dull as dishwater business psychologist Dr Rob Yeung and celebrity PA Heather Howard, who boasts she's worked for 20 years for 50 different celebs.
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Paddy Casey Saints And Sinners ##### THE astonishingly burgeoning market for middle-of-the-road Irish troubadours should stand Paddy Casey in good stead as he makes inroads on the likes of Damien Rice and David Gray, but this is dull as dishwater.
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It's as dull as dishwater and is not even worthy of background music status.
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Unlike the rest of the dull as dishwater cast she's mischievous, cheeky and a complete stunner.
Roz is streets ahead ds; PM ON SATURDAY HE KNOWS THE CELEBS.. COS HE THINKS HE IS ONE
The sex is still great but everything else is dull as dishwater. What should I do?
Dear MIRIAM: I'm stuck with the man I stole; LETTER OF THE DAY