Obtuse is a formal word that describes someone who is not able to think clearly or to understand what is obvious or simple. It can also suggest a refusal to see something apparent to others, or a willful ignorance of or insensitivity to the real facts of a situation. Obtuse can also describe something that is difficult to understand because it is unclear or imprecise.

// They were too obtuse to take a hint.

// The text is poorly written and downright obtuse.

See the entry >

“Engineers love complicated problems, but we have a reputation for being obtuse about personal interactions. I often tell my fellow engineers, ‘You won't find any problems more complicated than those involving people.’” — Bill Austin, Inc.com, 15 Jan. 2025

There’s a lot to understand about obtuse, so we’ll get straight to the point. Obtuse comes from a Latin word, obtusus, meaning “dull” or “blunt.” It can describe a geometric angle that is not acute (in other words one that exceeds 90 degrees but is less than 180 degrees), a leaf that is rounded at its free end, or a person who isn’t thinking clearly or who otherwise refuses to see something apparent to others—if someone asks you if you’re being obtuse about something, they are not paying you a compliment. Another common sense (no pun intended) of obtuse related to apprehension is “hard to comprehend,” often applied to speech or writing that isn’t clearly expressed or thought out. This sense may have developed due to the influence of two similar-sounding words: abstruse, a formal word that also means “hard to comprehend,” and obscure, a word that can mean, among other things, “not readily understood or clearly expressed.”