1
as in blunt
lacking sharpness of edge or point
obtuse scissors designed so that young users will not cut themselves
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in dumb
not having or showing an ability to absorb ideas readily
forgive me for being obtuse, but I wish you'd explain that to me again
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Recent Examples of obtuse
The dismissals were compelled by twin obtuse opinions of the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) in the Department of Justice issued in 1973 and 2000.
—
Bruce Fein, Baltimore Sun, 4 Dec. 2024
Hence the obtuse rabbis, the cowering Uncle Yasha, and, in Aliyah of the 1990s, the naked Russian woman, presumably a prostitute, presenting herself doggy-style.
—Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 5 Oct. 2024
Monster Hunter Wilds, released in February of this year, is another example of a series that changed its arcade-y spirit for a more photo mode-worthy presentation, while streamlining the obtuse friction that the original games were known for.
—Diego Argüello, Rolling Stone, 22 Mar. 2025
There would be no obtuse angles; the idea was to maintain a feeling of innocence, like that of a child opening a toy for the first time.
—Stephania Taladrid, The New Yorker, 27 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for obtuse
Bruce Fein, Baltimore Sun, 4 Dec. 2024
Hence the obtuse rabbis, the cowering Uncle Yasha, and, in Aliyah of the 1990s, the naked Russian woman, presumably a prostitute, presenting herself doggy-style.
—Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 5 Oct. 2024
Monster Hunter Wilds, released in February of this year, is another example of a series that changed its arcade-y spirit for a more photo mode-worthy presentation, while streamlining the obtuse friction that the original games were known for.
—Diego Argüello, Rolling Stone, 22 Mar. 2025
There would be no obtuse angles; the idea was to maintain a feeling of innocence, like that of a child opening a toy for the first time.
—Stephania Taladrid, The New Yorker, 27 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for obtuse
Recent Examples of Synonyms for obtuse
Adjective
-
An autopsy later revealed that O’Keefe had died from blunt force trauma and hypothermia.—
Sean Neumann,
People.com,
25 June 2025
-
Two of the dogs died of heat stroke, one of blunt force trauma, Orange County Deputy District Attorney Danica Drotman told Judge Kimberly Menninger during Monday’s hearing, drawing gasps from the owners in the courtroom gallery.—
Sean Emery,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
25 June 2025
Adjective
-
Ratajkowski has been fighting the stereotype of the dumb model from the beginning of her career.—
Daniel Jackson,
Allure,
18 July 2017
-
Ninety nine percent of all NFL players are explicitly not dumb.—
Andy Benoit,
The MMQB,
10 July 2017
Adjective
-
Mexican men were dismissed as violent Panchos and stupid Pedros.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
24 June 2025
-
There’s more stupid romance around harder substances but few chemicals are more hazardous to ambition than THC.—
Benjamin Hale
June 23,
Literary Hub,
23 June 2025
Adjective
-
The music is, for the most part, quiet and slow, often hovering at the edge of silence.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
23 June 2025
-
Juicy, tender ribs are hard to beat, and cooking them low and slow is the key to achieving that irresistible fall-off-the-bone texture and deep, savory flavor.—
Katie Rosenhouse,
Southern Living,
23 June 2025
Adjective
-
The simplest ideas in mathematics can also be the most perplexing.—
Leila Sloman,
Wired News,
29 June 2025
-
And given that toppers were developed specifically as a lighter, simpler alternative to full-bodied campers, designed to fit within limited midsize truck payloads, that extra beef is a definite problem for some shoppers.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
28 June 2025
Adjective
-
As thick clouds billowed out of Eyjafjallajökull, the skies over the North Atlantic — one of the world’s busiest aviation routes — fell silent, with air traffic dropping to levels that wouldn’t be seen again until the Covid pandemic a decade later.—
Brad Lendon,
CNN Money,
21 June 2025
-
Simply lather a thick coating of petroleum jelly onto the scratch.—
Kaitlyn Yarborough,
Southern Living,
21 June 2025
Adjective
-
Peering across a dense stretch of woodland outside Denmark's capital with camouflage paint smeared across her face, 20-year-old Katrine scanned the horizon for threats.—
Gabe Whisnant,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 June 2025
-
These waves are often emitted by cold, dense regions of space, like the TMC-1, where new stars and complex organic molecules can form.—
Victoria Corless,
Space.com,
30 June 2025
Adjective
-
The former Fox host Tucker Carlson, who opposed such an operation, sparred with two boosters: the current Fox host Mark Levin, and the Republican senator Ted Cruz, whom Carlson revealed to be ignorant of basic facts about Iran in a clip that went viral.—
Jon Allsop,
New Yorker,
27 June 2025
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Maybe LLMs get us 80% of the way there without any oversight, but skipping the context and being completely ignorant of what the machine is doing is typically not a good idea, partly for the reasons that the panelists laid out.—
John Werner,
Forbes.com,
19 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Obtuse.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/obtuse. Accessed 3 Jul. 2025.
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