obtuse

[uhb-toos, -tyoos]

adjective

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

   Synonyms: dim, slow, boorish, gauche, unobservant, 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

Other Word Forms

• obtusely adverb
• obtuseness noun
• subobtuse adjective
• subobtusely 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

Ms. Field finds this obtuse, considering America’s actual history.

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Though Godard later came to be synonymous with turgid, obtuse cinema, “Nouvelle Vague” is the opposite: a sprightly, effervescent ode to moviemaking as semi-controlled mischief.

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From “Civil War” to “Game Night,” Plemons has a knack for playing characters who are doggedly, dangerously obtuse, a key he’s still working in here.

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As a metaphor for obtuse white supremacy, still active today, that terror figure is hard to beat.

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I realize that my humor on “Red Eye” was deliberately obtuse in some ways, and not really deliberately.

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