obtuse
[uh b-toos, -tyoos]
- 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.
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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
Synonyms
See more synonyms for obtuse on Thesaurus.com1. unfeeling, tactless, insensitive; blind, imperceptive, unobservant; gauche, boorish; slow, dim.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for obtuse
Contemporary Examples
Or at least not obtuse about The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.
He is diminutive to meet, a coy and obtuse public speaker and a derivative thinker.
Historical Examples
I know the people of this City: they are ignorant, obtuse, fanatical, 313 blind.
The Book of KhalidAmeen Rihani
Nothing but the most obtuse vanity could ever have induced Bozzy to publish all this.
James BoswellWilliam Keith Leask
The characters are taken very lightly, but at least they are not obtuse and awkward.
Epic and RomanceW. P. Ker
The fourth glume is as long as the third, ovate, obtuse, paleate.
A Handbook of Some South Indian GrassesRai Bahadur K. Ranga Achariyar
The first glume is shorter than the second, ovate, obtuse, 7- to 9-nerved.
A Handbook of Some South Indian GrassesRai Bahadur K. Ranga Achariyar
obtuse
- 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
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Word Origin
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
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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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
obtuse
(ŏb-tōōs′, əb-)- Lacking quickness of perception or intellect.
- Not sharp or acute; blunt.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.