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Obtuse

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(pronounced ob-toos, ob-tyoos, ub-toos, or ub-tyoos)  adjective

Definition

1. not sharp, pointed, or acute; blunt. 2a. lacking sharpness of perception or intellect; not quick in feeling or sensibility; irritatingly insensitive; brutish. 2b. frustratingly slow in understanding; dull.

(Note: In recent years, the word obtuse has developed a new and controversial third sense, which is: difficult to comprehend; not clear in expression. But leading dictionaries such as Merriam Webster’s and American Heritage theorize that this third sense is a result of confusion with the word “abstruse.” In other words, when describing something that is hard to understand, abstruse is a more appropriate word.)

Main Example

• The scandalous lane closures on the George Washington Bridge last September, ordered out of political vengeance by officials working for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, not only affected everyday office-goers but also school buses, ambulances, doctors and other healthcare workers needing to tend to patients, all of whom were hopelessly stuck in traffic for four hours or more. One wonders how anyone sworn to public service can make such a nakedly obtuse decision, no matter what their personal and hidden agenda.

Workplace Examples

• The seminar this morning was pretty irritating. Most of the concepts and their significance were simple and straightforward, yet the presenter kept repeating the material as if we were much too obtuse to understand the stuff the first time through.
• Scott is one of the smartest guys in our group, but every once in a while he shows a tin ear for people’s reaction to his stories and jokes. Last evening wasn’t the first time he spoke so obtusely and offended some of the women present.

Other Examples

• in one of his blog posts, this author saying: “Each day, over 95 wild elephants are being killed by poachers out to make large amounts of money while satisfying the gluttonous and ignoble demand for blood ivory in China and South East Asia. The consumers of ivory conveniently forget that elephants, one of the most majestic of our fellow mammals, are extremely sentient beings with a highly developed sense of social structure and family relationships. For instance, elephants are known to grieve intensely over the death of a family member, just as we humans do. So, I beseech and plead with my numerous Chinese and South East Asian readers to marshal their intellectual power and ennoble themselves by taking forceful action to help save Africa’s elephants. Specifically, they should use all possible means, including social media, to goad and shame their respective governments into shedding moral obtuseness and squelching the demand for ivory.”
• somebody’s exasperating obtuseness
• in last year’s general election, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Representative Todd Akin’s obtuse remarks about rape (during which he even used a phrase “legitimate rape” which incensed women around the country) costing him the election
• In his recently published memoirs “Duty,” former Defense Secretary Robert Gates is scathing in his criticism of Congress, saying, “I would listen with growing outrage as hypocritical and obtuse American senators made all these demands of Iraqi legislators and yet themselves could not even pass budgets.” In this author’s opinion, nothing bespeaks of the level of obtuseness that exists in the U.S. Senate than the fact that even in the wake of the murder of 20 elementary school children at Sandyhook that arm of Congress failed to pass a bill that would have implemented some commonsense background checks for gun buyers.

© 2014 V.J. Singal
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