dull_blue colors

Literary analysis:

In literature, “dull blue” is often used to evoke an understated, muted atmosphere that contrasts with brighter or more vibrant colors. Authors employ the hue to describe everyday objects and attire—for example, a book bound in dull blue cloth [1] or a modest dress [2, 3]—suggesting a seriousness or quiet dignity. At the same time, the color is used to set the mood in natural settings: a sky fading into pale melancholy [4] or a wintry sea under a similarly subdued light [5]. Its restrained, somber quality is also applied to character features like eyes [6, 7], providing a subtle, reflective counterpoint to more vivid descriptions.

He reached his hand out for the book, bound in dull blue cloth, the symbol of its serious import.
— from The City of Fire by Grace Livingston Hill
I had already noted the very becoming dull blue house gown she wore.
— from Ruggles of Red Gap by Harry Leon Wilson
She wore an exquisitely embroidered purple silk apron, over a dull blue dress.
— from The Morgesons: A Novel by Elizabeth Stoddard
The dull blue of the sky in that quarter was fading into a pale, melancholy light, which at the same time blotted out the sparkling stars.
— from The Marquis of Peñalta (Marta y María): A Realistic Social Novel by Armando Palacio Valdés
Here was the dull blue wintry sea under the dull gray wintry sky.
— from Tempest-Driven: A Romance (Vol. 2 of 3) by Richard Dowling
The first thing the Harvester noticed was that the dull blue look in the depth of the dark eyes was gone.
— from The Harvester by Gene Stratton-Porter
Into her eyes of dull blue—like the blue of old china—the morning's sun sent an occasional unwonted sparkle.
— from A Man's Woman by Frank Norris

This tab, the new OneLook "color thesaurus", is a work in progress. It draws from a data set of more than 2000 color names gathered from sources around the Web, and an analysis of how they are referenced in English texts.

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