different between slow vs obtuse

English

Etymology

From Middle English slow, slaw, from Old English sl?w (“sluggish, inert, slothful, late, tardy, torpid, slow”), from Proto-Germanic *slaiwaz (“blunt, dull, faint, weak, slack”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lew- (“limp”). Cognate with Scots slaw (“slow”), Dutch sleeuw (“blunt, dull”), Low German slee (“dull, sluggish”), German schlehe, schleh (“dull, exhausted, faint”), Danish sløv (“dull, torpid, drowsy”), Swedish slö (“slack, lazy”), Icelandic sljór (“dim-witted, slow”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /sl??/
• (US) IPA^(key): /slo?/
• Rhymes: -??

Adjective

slow (comparative slower, superlative slowest)

1. Taking a long time to move or go a short distance, or to perform an action; not quick in motion; proceeding at a low speed.

2. Not happening in a short time; spread over a comparatively long time.
   • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost

     These changes in the heavens, though slow, produced / Like change on sea and land, sidereal blast.
3. Of reduced intellectual capacity; not quick to comprehend.
   • 1960, Dissertation Abstracts (volume 20, page 4007)

     Experienced classroom teachers are well acquainted with the attention-seeker, the shy girl, the aggressive boy, the poor concentrator, the slow student […]

4. Not hasty; not tending to hurry; acting with deliberation or caution.
   • 1999, Brian Paul Kaufman, K. Winston Caine, Prayer, Faith, and Healing: Cure Your Body, Heal Your Mind and Restore Your Soul

     And even after the emotional cast comes off, we need to be slow about getting deeply involved in a relationship again

   • 1611, King James Bible, Proverbs xiv 29

     He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding.

5. (of a clock or the like) Behind in time; indicating a time earlier than the true time.

6. Lacking spirit; deficient in liveliness or briskness.
7. (of a period of time) Not busy; lacking activity.

Synonyms

• (taking a long time to move a short distance): deliberate; moderate; see also Thesaurus:slow
• (not happening in a short time): gradual; see also Thesaurus:gradual
• (of reduced intellectual capacity): dull-witted; see also Thesaurus:stupid
• (acting with deliberation): careful, deliberate, prudent; see also Thesaurus:cautious
• (behind in time):
• (lacking spirit): boring, dilatory, dull, inactive, tardy, slothful, sluggish; see also Thesaurus:inactive or Thesaurus:boring
• (not busy): quiet, unbusy

Antonyms

• (taking a long time to move a short distance): fast, quick, rapid, swift; see also Thesaurus:speedy
• (not happening in a short time): abrupt, sudden; see also Thesaurus:sudden
• (of reduced intellectual capacity): keen, quick, quick-witted; see also Thesaurus:intelligent
• (acting with deliberation): hasty, precipitate, prompt; see also Thesaurus:prompt
• (behind in time): accurate, fast
• (lacking spirit): brisk, lively; see also Thesaurus:active
• (not busy): hectic

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

slow (third-person singular simple present slows, present participle slowing, simple past and past participle slowed)

1. (transitive) To make (something) run, move, etc. less quickly; to reduce the speed of.

2. (transitive) To keep from going quickly; to hinder the progress of.

3. (intransitive) To become slow; to slacken in speed; to decelerate.

   • After about a minute, the creek bed vomited the debris into a gently sloped meadow. Saugstad felt the snow slow and tried to keep her hands in front of her.

Synonyms

• (keep from going quickly): delay, hinder, retard
• (become slow): decelerate, slacken

Derived terms

• slower
• slow up
• slow down

Translations

Noun

slow (plural slows)

1. Someone who is slow; a sluggard.
2. (music) A slow song.

Adverb

slow (comparative slower, superlative slowest)

1. Slowly.
   • 1594, William Shakespeare, The Rape of Lucrece

     Let him have time to mark how slow time goes / In time of sorrow.

Anagrams

• Lows, OWLs, lows, owls, sowl

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English slow.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /slo/

Noun

slow m (plural slows)

1. slow waltz

See also

• quick

Further reading

• “slow” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [slow]

Noun

slow

1. genitive of sl?

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