OBTUSE

PRONUNCIATION: (uhb-TOOS/TYOOS)

MEANING: adjective:
1. Slow or unwilling to understand.
2. Dull or indistinct, as a sound, pain, or sensation.
3. Blunt; not sharp or pointed.
4. Of an angle: measuring more than 90° and less than 180°.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin obtundere (to beat against), from ob- (against) + tundere (to beat), which also gave us pierce, contuse, and obtund. Earliest documented use: 1425.
____________________

MOBTUSE - rioters, thinking mindlessly

OBTASE - the enzyme that helps digest OBT

OBIT-USE - transmission of coded messages via death notices