slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity; "so dense he never understands anything I say to him"; "never met anyone quite so dim"; "although dull at classical learning, at mathematics he was uncommonly quick"- Thackeray; "dumb officials make some really dumb decisions"; "he was either normally stupid or being deliberately obtuse"; "worked with the slow students"
having high relative density or specific gravity; "dense as lead"
hard to pass through because of dense growth; "dense vegetation"; "thick woods"
permitting little if any light to pass through because of denseness of matter; "dense smoke"; "heavy fog"; "impenetrable gloom"
full of light; shining intensely; "a brilliant star"; "brilliant chandeliers"
characterized by grandeur; "the brilliant court life at Versailles"; "a glorious work of art"; "magnificent cathedrals"; "the splendid coronation ceremony"
of surpassing excellence; "a brilliant performance"; "a superb actor"
too small or unimportant to merit attention; "passed his life in an inconsiderable village"; "their duties were inconsiderable"; "had no inconsiderable influence"