ob·tuse

[uhb-toos, -tyoos]
adjective
1.
not quick or alert in perception, feeling, or intellect; not sensitive or observant; dull.
2.
not sharp, acute, or pointed; blunt in form.
3.
(of a leaf, petal, etc.) rounded at the extremity.
4.
indistinctly felt or perceived, as pain or sound.
Origin:
1500–10; < Latin obtūsus dulled (past participle of obtundere), equivalent to ob- ob- + tūd-, variant stem of tundere to beat + -tus past participle suffix, with dt > s

Related forms
ob·tuse·ly, adverb
ob·tuse·ness, noun
sub·ob·tuse, adjective
sub·ob·tuse·ly, adverb
sub·ob·tuse·ness, noun

Can be confused: abstruse, obtuse.

Synonyms
1. unfeeling, tactless, insensitive; blind, imperceptive, unobservant; gauche, boorish; slow, dim.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
obtuse (əbˈtjuːs) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—adj
1.  mentally slow or emotionally insensitive
2.  maths
 a.  (of an angle) lying between 90° and 180°
 b.  (of a triangle) having one interior angle greater than 90°
3.  not sharp or pointed
4.  indistinctly felt, heard, etc; dull: obtuse pain
5.  (of a leaf or similar flat part) having a rounded or blunt tip
 
[C16: from Latin obtūsus dulled, past participle of obtundere to beat down; see obtund]
 
ob'tusely
 
—adv
 
ob'tuseness
 
—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

obtuse
c.1500, from M.Fr. obtus (fem. obtuse), from L. obtusus "blunted, dull," pp. of obtundere "to beat against, make dull," from ob "against" + tundere "to beat," from PIE *(s)tud- "to beat, strike, push, thrust" (cf. L. tudes "hammer," Skt. tudati "he thrusts"). Sense of "stupid" is first found c.1500.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

obtuse ob·tuse (ŏb-t&oomacr;s', -ty&oomacr;s', əb-)
adj.

  1. Lacking quickness of perception or intellect.

  2. Not sharp or acute; blunt.

ob·tuse'ness n.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Example sentences
So they often seemed strident, ideological and morally obtuse.
There have been blowups, say those who have witnessed them, and obtuse demands.
Focus on the vocabulary: acute angles, obtuse angles and right angles.
Their words were obtuse and the presentations circuitous.
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