OBTUSE

dense, dim, dull, dumb, obtuse, slow

(adjective) 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”

obtuse, purblind

(adjective) 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

obtuse

(adjective) of an angle; between 90 and 180 degrees

obtuse

(adjective) (of a leaf shape) rounded at the apex

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Adjective

obtuse (comparative obtuser or more obtuse, superlative obtusest or most obtuse)

(now, chiefly, botany, zoology) Blunt; not sharp, pointed, or acute in form.

(botany, zoology) Blunt, or rounded at the extremity.

(geometry, specifically, of an, angle) Larger than one, and smaller than two right angles, or more than 90° and less than 180°.

(geometry, by ellipsis) Obtuse-angled, having an obtuse angle.

Intellectually dull or dim-witted.

Of sound, etc.: deadened, muffled, muted.

Indirect or circuitous.

Synonyms

• (intellectually dull): dense, dim, dim-witted, thick (informal)

• (of a sound): deadened, muffled

• (of a triangle): obtuse-angled

• (now chiefly botany, zoology): blunt, dull

Antonyms

• (intellectually dull): bright, intelligent, on the ball, quick off the mark, quick-witted, sharp, smart

• (deadened, muffled, muted): clear, sharp

• (of an angle): acute

• (of a triangle): acute, acute-angled

• (now chiefly botany, zoology): pointed, sharp

Verb

obtuse (third-person singular simple present obtuses, present participle obtusing, simple past and past participle obtused)

(transitive, obsolete) To dull or reduce an emotion or a physical state.

Anagrams

• buteos

Source: Wiktionary


Ob*tuse". a. [Compar. Obtuser (; superl. Obtusest.] Etym: [L. obtusus, p.p. of obtundere to blunt: cf. F. obtus. See Obtund.]

1. Not pointed or acute; blunt; -- applied esp. to angles greater than a right angle, or containing more than ninety degrees.

2. Not having acute sensibility or perceptions; dull; stupid; as, obtuse senses. Milton.

3. Dull; deadened; as, obtuse sound. Johnson.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

23 November 2024

THEORETICAL

(adjective) concerned primarily with theories or hypotheses rather than practical considerations; “theoretical science”


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Coffee Trivia

The word “coffee” entered the English language in 1582 via the Dutch “koffie,” borrowed from the Ottoman Turkish “kahve,” borrowed in turn from the Arabic “qahwah.” The Arabic word qahwah was traditionally held to refer to a type of wine.

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