obtuse
obtuse Lexical Profile
obtuse Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Annoyingly insensitive or slow to understand; lacking sharpness of intellect or perception.
"He wondered if the committee was being deliberately obtuse about the budget deficit."
(of an angle) Measuring more than 90 degrees and less than 180 degrees.
"In geometry class, the students learned to distinguish between acute, right, and obtuse angles."
Not sharp-pointed or sharp-edged; blunt or rounded in form (especially of a leaf or botanical structure).
"This species of shrub is easily identified by its leathery leaves with obtuse tips."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse 'obtuse' (slow to understand or blunt) with 'abstruse' (difficult to understand or obscure); a person may be obtuse when failing to grasp an abstruse concept.
• Rhymes for obtuse
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed from Latin 'obtusus', the past participle of 'obtundere' ('to beat against, blunt, or dull'), formed from 'ob-' ('against') and 'tundere' ('to beat').