obtuseness

[ uhb-toos-nis, -tyoos- ]

noun

1. lack of quickness, alertness, or sensitivity in perception, intellect, or feeling, often arising from conscious or unconscious resistance:

   What I find very tiresome is your willful obtuseness—your refusal to admit facts that are well-known or arguments you have lost.

2. the quality or degree of bluntness in physical form; lack of sharpness or acuteness:

   Platybasia is an abnormal obtuseness of the basal angle of the brain.

3. the fact or quality of being indistinctly felt or perceived, as pain or sound:

   The chief indication of deep-seated, pervasive inflammation seems to be the obtuseness of the pain.

Other Words From

• sub·ob·tuse·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of obtuseness¹

First recorded in 1640–50; obtuse ( def ) + -ness ( def )

Example Sentences

Underscoring the grotesque moral obtuseness from the convention stage was the joyful display of generations as the president praised and embraced his offspring.

From Salon

He plays the victim vividly and is quite adept at showing the obtuseness of a know-it-all.

From Los Angeles Times

LadyBird’s question infuriates both her mother and her sister with its obtuseness.

From Los Angeles Times

His righteous moral obtuseness is the most chilling note in this production.

From Los Angeles Times

That’s particularly necessary because Ken’s comic obtuseness and arc — as well as Gosling’s deadpan and boy-band dance moves — recurrently draw attention away from the actress and her character.

From New York Times

Related Words

• absurdity
• apathy
• idiocy
• ignorance
• lunacy
• nonsense
• silliness