obtuse

obtuse
\ \ [16] The etymological meaning of obtuse is ‘beaten down, blunted’. It comes from Latin obtūsus, the past participle of obtundere, a compound verb formed from the prefix ob- ‘against’ and tunderebeat’ (source of English contusion and related to toil). The notion of being ‘dulled’ or ‘blunted’ led to its being used for ‘having dulled wits, stupid’, and the idea of bluntness also lies behind its geometrical use for an angle of more than 90 degrees (as contrasted with the ‘sharp’ acute angle).
\ \ Cf.CONTUSION, TOIL

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Obtuse — Ob*tuse a. [Compar. {Obtuser}; superl. {Obtusest}.] [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.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Obtuse — may refer to: Obtuse angle, an angle of between 90 and 180 degrees, Obtuse triangle, a triangle with an internal angle of between 90 and 180 degrees, leaf shape, Linguistic ambiguity, lacking sharpness or quickness of sensibility. This… …   Wikipedia

  • obtuse — [äb to͞os′, əbto͞os′; äbtyo͞os′, əbtyo͞os′] adj. [L obtusus, blunted, dull, pp. of obtundere: see OBTUND] 1. not sharp or pointed; blunt 2. greater than 90 degrees and less than 180 degrees [an obtuse angle]: see ANGLE1 3. slow to understand or… …   English World dictionary

  • obtuse — (adj.) early 15c., from M.Fr. obtus (fem. obtuse), from L. obtusus blunted, dull, pp. of obtundere to beat against, make dull, from ob against (see OB (Cf. ob )) + tundere to beat, from PIE * (s)tud e to beat, strike, push, thrust, fr …   Etymology dictionary

  • obtuse — [adj1] slow to understand dense, dopey*, dull*, dumb, imperceptive, insensitive, opaque, slow on uptake*, stolid, thick, uncomprehending, unintelligent; concept 402 Ant. bright, intelligent, quick, smart obtuse [adj2] blunt, not sharp round,… …   New thesaurus

  • obtuse — I adjective asinine, blockish, blunt, blunt witted, callous, dense, doltish, dronish, dull, dull witted, hebes, idiotic, ignorant, imbecilic, imperceptive, impercipient, insensitive, lumpish, moronic, oafish, obtusus, opaque, phlegmatic, retusus …   Law dictionary

  • obtuse — *dull, blunt Analogous words: insensitive, Unsensible, anesthetic, impassible: stolid, phlegmatic, *impassive Antonyms: acute Contrasted words: *sharp, keen: sensitive, susceptible, open, exposed (see LIABLE) …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • obtuse — ► ADJECTIVE 1) annoyingly insensitive or slow to understand. 2) (of an angle) more than 90° and less than 180°. 3) not sharp pointed or sharp edged; blunt. DERIVATIVES obtusely adverb obtuseness noun. ORIGIN Latin obtusus, from obtundere beat ag …   English terms dictionary

  • obtuse — [[t]əbtju͟ːs, AM tu͟ːs[/t]] 1) ADJ GRADED Someone who is obtuse has difficulty understanding things, or makes no effort to understand them. [FORMAL] I ve really been very obtuse and stupid... I m a limited and obtuse clergyman while you re the… …   English dictionary

  • obtuse — adjective 1 slow to understand things, in a way that is annoying: an obtuse lout of a man | be obtuse (=pretend to not understand something): Is he being deliberately obtuse? 2 obtuse angle technical an angle between 90 and 180 degrees obtusely… …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

  • obtuse — ● obtus, obtuse adjectif (latin obtusus) Qui manque de pénétration, de finesse ; borné : Une intelligence obtuse. Se dit d un angle géométrique dont l écart angulaire est compris strictement entre celui de l angle droit et celui de l angle plat.… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

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