obtuse

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obtuse

not quick or alert in perception, feeling, or intellect; dull, blunt, unfeeling, tactless, insensitive: an obtuse statement made without considering its effect; slow, dim; boorish; indistinctly felt or perceived, as pain or sound

Not to be confused with:

abstruse – hard to understand; esoteric: abstruse theories; recondite, incomprehensible, unfathomable, arcane

ob·tuse

(ŏb-to͞os′, -tyo͞os′, əb-)

adj. ob·tus·er, ob·tus·est

a. Lacking quickness of perception or intellect.

b. Characterized by a lack of intelligence or sensitivity: an obtuse remark.

c. Not distinctly felt: an obtuse pain.

a. Not sharp, pointed, or acute in form; blunt.

b. Having an obtuse angle: an obtuse triangle.

c. Botany Having a blunt or rounded tip: an obtuse leaf.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin obtūsus, past participle of obtundere, to blunt; see obtund.]

ob·tuse′ly adv.

ob·tuse′ness n.

Usage Note: Obtuse is sometimes used where one might expect abstruse instead, but the Usage Panel is divided on the acceptability of these usages. In our 2009 survey, 55 percent of the Usage Panel rejected obtuse meaning "recondite," as in The reader has to struggle through dense prose and obtuse references to modern philosophers. Some 52 percent rejected the word when used to mean "indirect or oblique" in the sentence Divorce is mentioned, and there are a few obtuse references to sex. By contrast, 56 percent accepted sentences in which obtuse was used to mean "hard to follow or understand" in the phrases obtuse instructions and obtuse explanation. Perhaps the use of the word as a sophisticated synonym of stupid makes these extended derogatory uses more tolerable than they otherwise might be.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

obtuse

(əbˈtjuːs)

adj

1. mentally slow or emotionally insensitive

2. (Mathematics) maths

a. (of an angle) lying between 90° and 180°

b. (of a triangle) having one interior angle greater than 90°

3. not sharp or pointed

4. indistinctly felt, heard, etc; dull: obtuse pain.

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

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

obˈtusely adv

obˈtuseness, obˈtusity n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ob•tuse

(əbˈtus, -ˈtyus)

adj.

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

2. not sharp, acute, or pointed; blunt.

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

4. indistinctly felt or perceived, as pain or sound.

[1500–10; < Latin obtūsus blunt; see obtund]

ob•tuse′ly, adv.

ob•tuse′ness, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adj.	1.	obtuse - of an angle; between 90 and 180 degrees acute - of an angle; less than 90 degrees
	2.	obtuse - (of a leaf shape) rounded at the apex unsubdivided, simple - (botany) of leaf shapes; of leaves having no divisions or subdivisions
	3.	obtuse - lacking in insight or discernment; "too obtuse to grasp the implications of his behavior"; "a purblind oligarchy that flatly refused to see that history was condemning it to the dustbin"- Jasper Griffin purblind undiscerning - lacking discernment
	4.	obtuse - slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity; "so dense he never understands anything I say to him"; "never met anyone quite so dim"; "although dull at classical learning, at mathematics he was uncommonly quick"- Thackeray; "dumb officials make some really dumb decisions"; "he was either normally stupid or being deliberately obtuse"; "worked with the slow students" dumb, slow, dense, dim, dull stupid - lacking or marked by lack of intellectual acuity

obtuse

adjective stupid, simple, slow, thick, dull, dim, dense, dumb (informal), sluggish, retarded, simple-minded, dozy (Brit. informal), witless, stolid, dopey (informal), moronic, brainless, uncomprehending, cretinous, unintelligent, half-witted, slow on the uptake (informal), braindead (informal), dumb-ass (informal), doltish, dead from the neck up (informal), boneheaded (slang), thickheaded, dull-witted, imperceptive, slow-witted, muttonheaded (slang), thick as mince (Scot. informal), woodenheaded (informal) I think you're being deliberately obtuse.
quick, bright, sharp, keen, smart, clever, shrewd, astute

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

obtuse

adjective

Lacking in intelligence:

blockheaded, dense, doltish, dumb, hebetudinous, stupid, thickheaded, thick-witted.

Informal: thick.

Slang: dimwitted, dopey.

Translations

مُنْفَرِج الزاويَه

stump

tylppä

sljór

plats

slötrubbig

geniş açı

圆头的钝角的

obtuse

[əbˈtjuːs] ADJ

1. (Math) → obtuso

2. (= stupid, insensitive) [person] → obtuso, torpe; [remark] → desacertado, poco inteligente
he can be very obtuse at times → a veces puede ser muy obtuso
now you're just being obtuse → te empeñas en no comprender

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

obtuse

[əbˈtjuːs] adj

[person] → obtus(e)

[angle] → obtus(e)

obtuse

adj

(Geometry) → stumpf

person → begriffsstutzig, beschränkt; are you just being obtuse? → tust du nur so beschränkt?

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

obtuse

[əbˈtjuːs] adj (gen) (Math) → ottuso/a; (remark) → stolto/a

obtuse

(əbˈtjuːs) adjective

(of an angle) greater than a right-angle.

ob·tuse

a. obtuso-a.

1. que le falta agudeza mental;

2. romo-a, mellado-a.

References in classic literature ?

After his recovery his small and slender frame assumed an obtuser garniture of flesh than it had ever before worn.