Word of the Day
: September 25, 2021obtuse
playWhat It Means
Obtuse means "difficult to understand" or "unable to understand what is obvious."
// The attorney explained the obtuse language in the contract to her client.
// Maybe I am being obtuse, but I didn't understand the end of the movie.
obtuse in Context
"There are speeches and flags and somewhat obtuse artistic presentations, then at or near the end, the Olympic flame enters the stadium and is delivered to a cauldron … to burn for the next 16 days." — Brandon Veale, The Duluth (Minnesota) News-Tribune, 23 July 2021
Did You Know?
Obtuse comes from a Latin word meaning "dull" or "blunt." It can describe a geometric angle that is not acute or a person who is mentally "dull." In addition, obtuse can mean "hard to comprehend." That meaning is probably from confusion with the similar-sounding abstruse.
Test Your Vocabulary with M-W Quizzes
Quiz
Unscramble the letters to create a verb meaning "to make dull or obtuse": TEAEBEHT.
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