(click/touch triangles for details)
Definition
slow to learn or understand- too obtuse to grasp the implications of his behavior
- How can she be so brilliantly incisive on one page and so infuriatingly obtuse on the next?
- he was either stupid or being deliberately obtuse
- It was as though his eyes were holding their breath, while his mother looked at him ... clairvoyant yet obtuse.William Faulkner -- The Sound and the Fury
- a bit obtuseT.S. Eliot -- The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
- I saw that two of its iron angles were now acute—two, consequently, obtuse.Edgar Allan Poe -- The Pit and the Pendulum
- He remembered with what a callous selfishness his uncle had treated her, how obtuse he had been to her humble, devoted love.W. Somerset Maugham -- Of Human Bondage
- People who are not only weak, but silly or obtuse as well, are often in these difficulties.George Bernard Shaw -- Pygmalion
- And on this aspect you seem singularly obtuse.C.S. Lewis -- The Screwtape Letters
- Now, when he was on fire with his Cause, Arthur's justice seemed bourgeois and obtuse beside him.T. H. White -- The Once and Future King
- It is the systematic operation, which always and obtusely succeeds, the well-planned response to life's uncertainties and complications.Chang-rae Lee -- A Gesture Life
- They were obtuse; their morale was good.Joseph Heller -- Catch-22
- Then Tjaden pretends to be obtuse.Erich Maria Remarque -- All Quiet on the Western Front
- The truth about his remarkable fabrications, however, had not become known to Castleton, solely because of the Englishman's obtuseness.Zane Grey -- The Light of Western Stars
- He imagines how obtuse and disconnected Cedric must feel.Ron Suskind -- A Hope in the Unseen
- And Mom could be so insensitive, so clueless and obtuse.Anne Tayler -- A Spool of Blue Thread
- His obtuseness frustrated me.Nicole Krauss -- The History of Love
- Again there was that deliberate obtuseness in me.Anne Rice -- Interview with the Vampire
- The other corner was disproportionately obtuse.Fyodor Dostoyevsky -- Crime and Punishment
- For there was one quality in Henry for which she was never prepared, however much she reminded herself of it: his obtuseness.E.M. Forster -- Howards End
obtuse = slow to learn or understand
obtuse = slow to learn or understand
(Editor's note: The suffix "-ness" converts an adjective to a noun that means the quality of. This is the same pattern you see in words like darkness, kindness, and coolness.)
(Editor's note: The suffix "-ness" converts an adjective to a noun that means the quality of. This is the same pattern you see in words like darkness, kindness, and coolness.)
(Editor's note: The suffix "-ness" converts an adjective to a noun that means the quality of. This is the same pattern you see in words like darkness, kindness, and coolness.)
(Editor's note: The suffix "-ness" converts an adjective to a noun that means the quality of. This is the same pattern you see in words like darkness, kindness, and coolness.)
Search for other examples by interest
Interest — Source
General — Google News®General — Time® Magazine
General — Wikipedia®
Architecture — Google® books - Architecture
Business — Bloomberg®
Business — The Economist®
Classic Literature — Google® books - Classical Literature
Engineering — Google® books - Engineering
Engineering — Popular Mechanics®
Engineering — Discover Magazine®
Fine Arts & Music — Google® books - Art
History — Google® books - History
Human Behavior — Google® books - Psychology
Human Behavior — Psychology Today®
Law — FindLaw®
Law — Google® books - Law
Logic & Reasoning — Google® books - Reasoning
Medicine — Web MD®
Medicine — Google® books - Medicine
Nature & Ecology — National Geographic®
Nature & Ecology — Google® books - Nature
Personal Finance — Kiplinger® (Personal Finance)
Philosophy — Google® books - Philosophy
Public Policy & Politics — Newsweek®
Public Policy & Politics — Real Clear Politics®
Public Policy & Politics — Google® books - Politics
Religion & Spirtuality — Google® books - Religion
Religion - Christianity — Bible Gateway®
Religion - Christianity — Google® books - Christianity
Science — Popular Science®
Science — Scientific American®
Science — Google® books - Science
Sports — Sports Illustrated®