obtuse

[uhb-toos, -tyoos]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR obtuse ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

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

not sharp, acute, or pointed; blunt in form.

(of a leaf, petal, etc.) rounded at the extremity.

indistinctly felt or perceived, as pain or sound.

Origin of obtuse

1500–10; < 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

Related formsob·tuse·ly, adverbob·tuse·ness, nounsub·ob·tuse, adjectivesub·ob·tuse·ly, adverbsub·ob·tuse·ness, noun

Can be confusedabstruse obtuse

Synonyms for obtuse

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR obtuse ON THESAURUS.COM

1. unfeeling, tactless, insensitive; blind, imperceptive, unobservant; gauche, boorish; slow, dim.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for obtuse

dense, dopey, dull, dumb, insensitive, opaque, stolid, thick, unintelligent, uncomprehending, imperceptive, round, rounded

Examples from the Web for obtuse

Contemporary Examples of obtuse

Or at least not obtuse about The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.
How to Get Laid in Brooklyn a la Adelle Waldman’s Nifty Novel of Manners
Tom LeClair
July 25, 2014
He is diminutive to meet, a coy and obtuse public speaker and a derivative thinker.
The GOP's Wimpy Whip
John Batchelor
September 13, 2010

Historical Examples of obtuse

I know the people of this City: they are ignorant, obtuse, fanatical, 313 blind.
The Book of Khalid
Ameen Rihani
Nothing but the most obtuse vanity could ever have induced Bozzy to publish all this.
James Boswell
William Keith Leask
The characters are taken very lightly, but at least they are not obtuse and awkward.
Epic and Romance
W. P. Ker
The first glume is shorter than the second, ovate, obtuse, 7- to 9-nerved.
A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses
Rai Bahadur K. Ranga Achariyar
The fourth glume is as long as the third, ovate, obtuse, paleate.
A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses
Rai Bahadur K. Ranga Achariyar

British Dictionary definitions for obtuse

obtuse

adjective

mentally slow or emotionally insensitive

maths

(of an angle) lying between 90° and 180°
(of a triangle) having one interior angle greater than 90°

not sharp or pointed

indistinctly felt, heard, etc; dullobtuse pain

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

Derived Formsobtusely, adverbobtuseness, noun

Word Origin for obtuse

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for obtuse

adj.

early 15c., "dull, blunted," from Middle French obtus (fem. obtuse), from Latin obtusus "blunted, dull," also used figuratively, past participle of obtundere "to beat against, make dull," from ob "against" (see ob-) + tundere "to beat," from PIE *(s)tud-e- "to beat, strike, push, thrust," from root *(s)teu- "to push, stick, knock, beat" (cf. Latin tudes "hammer," Sanskrit tudati "he thrusts"). Sense of "stupid" is first found c.1500. Related: Obtusely; obtuseness.

obtuse in Medicine

obtuse

[ŏb-tōōs′, əb-]

adj.

Lacking quickness of perception or intellect.

Not sharp or acute; blunt.