obtuse

[ uhb-toos, -tyoos ]

adjective

1. not quick or alert in perception, feeling, or intellect; not sensitive or observant; dull.

   Synonyms: unobservant, dim, slow, boorish, gauche, imperceptive, blind, insensitive, tactless, unfeeling

2. not sharp, acute, or pointed; blunt in form.
3. (of a leaf, petal, etc.) rounded at the extremity.
4. indistinctly felt or perceived, as pain or sound.

obtuse

/ əbˈtjuːs /

adjective

1. mentally slow or emotionally insensitive
2. maths
   1. (of an angle) lying between 90° and 180°
   2. (of a triangle) having one interior angle greater than 90°
3. not sharp or pointed
4. indistinctly felt, heard, etc; dull

   obtuse pain

5. (of a leaf or similar flat part) having a rounded or blunt tip

Derived Forms

• obˈtuseness, noun
• obˈtusely, adverb

Other Words From

• ob·tuse·ly adverb
• ob·tuse·ness noun
• sub·ob·tuse adjective
• sub·ob·tuse·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of obtuse¹

First recorded in 1500–10; from Latin obtūsus “dulled,” past participle of obtundere, equivalent to ob- ob- + tūd-, variant stem of tundere “to beat” + -tus past participle suffix, with dt > s

Word History and Origins

Origin of obtuse¹

C16: from Latin obtūsus dulled, past participle of obtundere to beat down; see obtund

Example Sentences

Or at least not obtuse about The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.

From The Daily Beast

Bennett has a point, but, in a perilously obtuse way, he's also missing the point.

From The Daily Beast

Stupples plays Pete as an absurdly obtuse man-child who reads as David Brent without the mean streak.

From The Daily Beast

That fact makes it shockingly obtuse of Hyundai to make mockery of the act in an ad for its new ix35.

From The Daily Beast

"He is not entirely obtuse about what the relationship really is," Miller said.

From The Daily Beast

No trail was so obtuse, no thicket so dense that members of that regiment would not track them to their lair.

From Project Gutenberg

Either Mrs. Morgan was obtuse or ignorant, for she gave no response for some time to Mary's stream of words.

From Project Gutenberg

Much as Jethro had blundered, and obtuse as he was in many things, he understood what had taken place.

From Project Gutenberg

The second Swastika has its ends bent at an obtuse angle to the left, and at the extremities the lines taper to a point.

From Project Gutenberg

Directly across from them at a table which formed a wide obtuse angle with theirs were four girls.

From Project Gutenberg