obtuse

Meanings

Adjective

• blunt; not sharp, pointed, or acute in form.
• 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.

Related

Similar words

• dense, dim, dim-witted, thick
• deadened, muffled
• obtuse-angled
• blunt, dull

Opposite words

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

Origin

• From Middle French obtus ("obtuse (geometry); narrow-minded, obtuse; boring, dull, lifeless"), from Latin obtūsus ("blunt, dull; obtuse"), past tense participle of obtundere, from obtundō, from ob- (see ob-) + tundō (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewd-, from *(s)tew-). More at obtund.