obtuse (adj.)

  1. of an angle; between 90 and 180 degrees

  2. (of a leaf shape) rounded at the apex

  3. lacking in insight or discernment; too obtuse to grasp the implications of his behavior; a purblind oligarchy that flatly refused to see that history was condemning it to the dustbin- Jasper Griffin

    [ Syn: purblind ]

  4. slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity; so dense he never understands anything I say to him; never met anyone quite so dim; although dull at classical learning, at mathematics he was uncommonly quick- Thackeray; dumb officials make some really dumb decisions; he was either normally stupid or being deliberately obtuse; worked with the slow students

    [ Syn: dense , dim , dull , dumb , slow ]

The dictionary is based on the WordNet Electronic Lexical Database.
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