different between obtuse vs dimwitted

English

Etymology

From Middle French obtus (“obtuse (geometry); narrow-minded, obtuse; boring, dull, lifeless”), from Latin obt?sus (“blunt, dull; obtuse”), past participle of obtundere, from obtund? (“to batter, beat, strike; to blunt, dull”), from ob- (“prefix meaning against”) (see ob-) + tund? (“to beat, strike; to bruise, crush, pound”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewd-, from *(s)tew- (“to hit; to push”)). More at obtund.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?b?tju?s/, /-?t?u?s/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?b?t(j)us/, /?b-/
• Rhymes: -u?s
• Hyphenation: ob?tuse

Adjective

obtuse (comparative obtuser or more obtuse, superlative obtusest or most obtuse)

1. (now chiefly botany, zoology) Blunt; not sharp, pointed, or acute in form.
   1. (botany, zoology) Blunt, or rounded at the extremity.
   2. (geometry, specifically, of an angle) Larger than one, and smaller than two right angles, or more than 90° and less than 180°.
   3. (geometry, by ellipsis) Obtuse-angled, having an obtuse angle.
2. Intellectually dull or dim-witted.
   • 1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair, Chapter 21:

     When the elder Osborne gave what he called "a hint," there was no possibility for the most obtuse to mistake his meaning. He called kicking a footman downstairs a hint to the latter to leave his service.
3. Of sound, etc.: deadened, muffled, muted.
4. Indirect or circuitous.

Synonyms

• (intellectually dull): dense, dim, dim-witted, thick (informal)
• (of a sound): deadened, muffled
• (of a triangle): obtuse-angled
• (now chiefly botany, zoology): blunt, dull

Antonyms

• (intellectually dull): bright, intelligent, on the ball, quick off the mark, quick-witted, sharp, smart
• (deadened, muffled, muted): clear, sharp
• (of an angle): acute
• (of a triangle): acute, acute-angled
• (now chiefly botany, zoology): pointed, sharp

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

obtuse (third-person singular simple present obtuses, present participle obtusing, simple past and past participle obtused)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To dull or reduce an emotion or a physical state.

Translations

Further reading

• obtuse (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• obtuse in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• obtuse in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• obtuse at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• buteos

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p.tyz/

Adjective

obtuse

1. feminine singular of obtus

Anagrams

• boutes

Latin

Adjective

obt?se

1. vocative masculine singular of obt?sus

References

• obtuse in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• obtuse in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

English

Adjective

dimwitted

1. Alternative spelling of dim-witted