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blunt

 - 3 dictionary results

blunt

  [bluhnt] adjective, -er, -est, verb, noun
–adjective
1. having an obtuse, thick, or dull edge or point; rounded; not sharp: a blunt pencil.
2. abrupt in address or manner: a blunt, ill-timed question.
3. slow in perception or understanding; obtuse: His isolation has made him blunt about the feelings of others.
–verb (used with object)
4. to make blunt; hebetate: He blunted the knife by using it to cut linoleum.
5. to weaken or impair the force, keenness, or susceptibility of: Wine first excites, then blunts the imagination.
–verb (used without object)
6. to become blunt.
–noun
7. something blunt, as a small-game arrow, a short sewing needle, or a short, thick cigar.
8. Slang. a cigar stuffed with marijuana.
Use blunt in a Sentence
Origin:
1150–1200; ME; perh. akin to blind

Related forms:
bluntly, adverb
bluntness, noun

Synonyms:
1. See dull. 2. short, gruff, rough, rude, uncivil, impolite. Blunt, bluff, brusque, curt characterize manners and speech. Blunt suggests lack of polish and of regard for the feelings of others: blunt and tactless. Bluff implies an unintentional roughness together with so much good-natured heartiness that others rarely take offense: a bluff sea captain. Brusque connotes sharpness and abruptness of speech or manner: a brusque denial. Curt applies esp. to disconcertingly concise language: a curt reply. 3. dimwitted, thick, stolid. 4. dull.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To blunt
blunt   (blŭnt)   
adj.   blunt·er, blunt·est

  1. Having a dull edge or end; not sharp.

  2. Abrupt and often disconcertingly frank in speech: "Onscreen, John Wayne was a blunt talker and straight shooter" (Time). See Synonyms at gruff.

  3. Slow to understand or perceive; dull.

  4. Lacking in feeling; insensitive.

v.   blunt·ed, blunt·ing, blunts

v.   tr.

  1. To dull the edge of.

  2. To make less effective; weaken: blunting the criticism with a smile.

v.   intr.
To become blunt.

[Middle English.]
blunt'ly adv., blunt'ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

blunt 
c.1200, "dull, obtuse," perhaps from O.N. blundra (see blunder). Meaning "abrupt of speech or manner" is from 1590. Blunt, street slang for "marijuana and tobacco cigar" (easier to pass around, easier to disguise, and the stimulant in the tobacco enhances the high from the pot) surfaced c.1993, but is said to have originated among Jamaicans in New York City in the early 1980s; from Phillies Blunt brand cigars.
"Users say that the Phillies Blunt brand produces less harsh-tasting or sweeter smoke. The leaf wrapper of a Phillies Blunt is strong enough to hold together through the manipulations of making a blunt. Other brands fall apart."
[http://nepenthes.lycaeum.org/Drugs/THC/Smoke/blunts.html]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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