ENGLISH
REFERENCE

obtuse

adj.
C2 Proficiency US //ɑbˈtus// UK //ɒbtjˈuːs// ob·tuse Archaic

adj. slow to understand something, or choosing not to understand it on purpose. You use this when someone is being annoying by not getting the point.

adj. annoyingly insensitive or slow to understand; lacking sharpness of intellect or perception. Often implies a deliberate refusal to comprehend the obvious.


SIMPLE

Stop being obtuse and just answer the question.

CONTEXTUAL

The manager was being intentionally obtuse during the meeting to avoid discussing the budget cuts.

COMPLEX

While the instructions were admittedly dense, his colleagues suspected he was being deliberately obtuse to delay the project's implementation.

Synonyms
Antonyms
Origin

From Middle English obtuse, from Latin obtūsus (“blunt, dull; obtuse”), past participle of obtundere, from obtundō (“to batter, beat, strike; to blunt, dull”), from ob- (“against”) (see ob-) + tundō (“to beat, strike; to bruise, crush, pound”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European (s)tewd-, from (s)tew- (“to hit; to push”)). More at obtund.

Usage

Often used predicatively after linking verbs like 'be', 'seem', or 'act'.

Pitfall

he was being abstrusehe was being obtuseLearners confuse 'obtuse' (slow to understand) with 'abstruse' (difficult to understand).

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