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
Turning it into a cheap conceit to blast a political opponent is both obtuse and shameful, and only serves to bolster those who would downplay the terrors of Hitler’s reign.
—
Boston Herald Editorial Staff, Boston Herald, 15 June 2025
Alfie, who’s either being willfully obtuse or radically uncompromising, sees nothing sacrilegious in Wilde’s one-act tragedy.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 21 May 2025
Instead, Zannier preserved existing vegetation and engineered against erosion—environmental consciousness that makes neighboring resorts look positively obtuse by comparison.
—Paul Jebara, Forbes.com, 30 Apr. 2025
Instead, the show morphed into a thudding retread of SATC with weaker, more diluted storytelling/joke-telling and an obtuse obsession with flaunting its characters’ seemingly infinite riches.
—Robyn Bahr, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for obtuse
Boston Herald Editorial Staff, Boston Herald, 15 June 2025
Alfie, who’s either being willfully obtuse or radically uncompromising, sees nothing sacrilegious in Wilde’s one-act tragedy.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 21 May 2025
Instead, Zannier preserved existing vegetation and engineered against erosion—environmental consciousness that makes neighboring resorts look positively obtuse by comparison.
—Paul Jebara, Forbes.com, 30 Apr. 2025
Instead, the show morphed into a thudding retread of SATC with weaker, more diluted storytelling/joke-telling and an obtuse obsession with flaunting its characters’ seemingly infinite riches.
—Robyn Bahr, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for obtuse
Recent Examples of Synonyms for obtuse
Adjective
-
So began a campaign that fused blunt political messaging with bighearted moving images—a sensibility not unlike that of Nair’s films.—
Eric Lach,
New Yorker,
9 Oct. 2025
-
The running back's response was blunt, even if not necessarily concise.—
Max Dible,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
So many of Black Rabbit’s subplots are confusing, boring, or dumb.—
Andrew Bernard,
The Washington Examiner,
3 Oct. 2025
-
Luis Jauregui, a professor at UC Irvine, is an expert in quantum physics who is smart enough to describe his work in terms that are foreign to a non-scientist, yet affable enough to explain it anyway, without making any non-scientist feel dumb.—
Andre Mouchard,
Oc Register,
28 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
The name-calling and the stupid AI and the imagery has got to stop.—
Joey Nolfi,
Entertainment Weekly,
30 Sep. 2025
-
These kids are being stupid and absurd and reckless and not thinking about anything other than what’s directly in front of their faces.—
Will Leitch,
New York Times,
30 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
The episodes feel choppy, hardly letting anything land, yet still feeling slow.—
Grace Byron,
Vulture,
6 Oct. 2025
-
The crowd, quietening into a slow clap with the moment building, burst into a celebration.—
Mitch Bannon,
New York Times,
5 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Jared Jewelers Bulova Phantom Watch A watch is both practical and fashionable, and this style adds a touch of sparkle to simple outfits.—
Jacqueline Tempera,
PEOPLE,
4 Oct. 2025
-
Each year, as the temperature rises, the town’s regular population of around 300 swells with thousands of kids soaking up the simple pleasures of the great outdoors.—
Tara Massouleh McCay,
Southern Living,
4 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
That thick sole relieves pressure and pain, especially pain associated with conditions like plantar fasciitis.—
Olivia Young,
Travel + Leisure,
8 Oct. 2025
-
The smoke was thick enough to cast its own shadows upon the hill.—
Caity Weaver,
The Atlantic,
8 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
In extremely dense fog where visibility is near zero, the best course of action is to first turn on your hazard lights, then simply pull into a safe location such as a parking lot of a local business, and stop.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
7 Oct. 2025
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The moon's strange yellow hue is the result of a phenomenon known as Rayleigh Scattering, wherein Earth's dense atmosphere interferes with the passage of shorter, bluer wavelengths of light, while allowing longer, redder, wavelengths to pass through relatively unscathed.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
7 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
At the time, central Appalachia was widely depicted in the popular press as a backward, ignorant region whose mountainous terrain kept its people isolated, outside the flow of progress – a stereotype still common today.—
The Conversation,
The Conversation,
7 Oct. 2025
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So what will our ignorant commissioner do with the information?—
Edward Lotterman,
Twin Cities,
28 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Obtuse.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/obtuse. Accessed 12 Oct. 2025.
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