Definition of OBTUSE

obtuse

Adjective

  • Lacking sharpness of intellect; annoyingly insensitive or slow to understand.
  • of an angle; between 90 and 180 degrees

Adjective Satellite

  • (of a leaf shape) rounded at the apex
  • lacking in insight or discernment; ; - Jasper Griffin
    • "too obtuse to grasp the implications of his behavior"
  • slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity; ; ; - Thackeray
    • "he was either normally stupid or being deliberately obtuse"

Adj

  • Blunt; not sharp, pointed, or acute in form.
  • Blunt; not sharp, pointed, or acute in form.
  • Blunt, or rounded at the extremity.
  • Blunt; not sharp, pointed, or acute in form.
  • Larger than one, and smaller than two right angles, or more than 90° and less than 180°.
  • Blunt; not sharp, pointed, or acute in form.
  • Obtuse-angled, having an obtuse angle.
  • Intellectually dull or dim-witted.
  • Of sound, etc.: deadened, muffled, muted.
  • Indirect or circuitous.

Verb

  • To dull or reduce an emotion or a physical state.

Examples

  • He seemed obtuse to the fact that leaving ’S’ tiles open was a bad strategy.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English obtuse, from Latin obtūsus (“blunt, dull; obtuse”), past participle of obtundere, from obtundō (“to batter, beat, strike; to blunt, dull”), from ob- (“against”) (see ob-) + tundō (“to beat, strike; to bruise, crush, pound”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewd-, from *(s)tew- (“to hit; to push”)). More at obtund.

Synonyms

dense, dim, dull, dumb, purblind, slow, blunt, deadened, dim-witted, muffled, obtuse-angled, thick

Antonyms

acute, acute-angled, bright, clear, intelligent, on the ball, pointed, quick off the mark, quick-witted, sharp, smart

Scrabble Score: 8

obtuse: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
obtuse: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
obtuse: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 10

obtuse: valid Words With Friends Word