obtuse
Americanadjective
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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
-
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.
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
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indistinctly felt, heard, etc; dull
obtuse pain
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(of a leaf or similar flat part) having a rounded or blunt tip
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of obtuse
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
Explanation
The adjective obtuse is good for describing someone slow on the uptake: "Don't be so obtuse: get with the program!" The adjective obtuse literally means "rounded" or "blunt," but when it's used for a person, it means "not quick or alert in perception" — in other words, not the sharpest tool in the shed. It's not just for dull people, but also dull angles: in geometry, an obtuse angle is one that is not so sharp (between 90 and 180 degrees).
Vocabulary lists containing obtuse
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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100 SAT words Beginning with "O"
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The ACT Math Test: Geometry, List 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The prolific, award-winning British author’s novels are often plotless, discursive and frustratingly obtuse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
It’s a complex and often obtuse system, but it does help to know how it works.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026
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.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025
But Schaffer’s film has the uniquely difficult task of making Frank look like an idiot without making the police as a whole seem lovably obtuse.
From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2025
What had made her so blind, so obtuse?
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
