blunt
pronunciation
How to pronounce blunt in British English:
UK [blʌnt]
How to pronounce blunt in American English:
US [blʌnt]
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- Verb:
- make less intense
- make numb or insensitive
- make dull or blunt
- make less sharp
- make less lively, intense, or vigorous; impair in vigor, force, activity, or sensation
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- Adjective:
- having a broad or rounded end
- used of a knife or other blade; not sharp
- characterized by directness in manner or speech; without subtlety or evasion
- devoid of any qualifications or disguise or adornment
Word Origin
- blunt
- blunt: [12] Blunt originally meant ‘dull, obtuse, foolish’ in English, and it has been speculated that behind it there lay an earlier ‘dull of sight’, linking the word with blind. A possible source would be a derivative of Old Norse blunda ‘shut one’s eyes’ (whence probably also blunder). The application of blunt to dull, non-sharp edges or blades developed in the 14th century.=> blind, blunder
- blunt (adj.)
- c. 1200, "dull, obtuse," perhaps from or related to Old Norse blundra (see blunder (v.)). Of tools or weapons, late 14c. Meaning "abrupt of speech or manner" is from 1580s.
- blunt (v.)
- late 14c., from blunt (adj.). Related: Blunted; blunting.
- blunt (n.)
- street slang for "marijuana and tobacco cigar" (easier to pass around, easier to disguise, and the stimulant in the tobacco enhances the high from the pot) surfaced c. 1993, but is said to have originated among Jamaicans in New York City in the early 1980s; from Phillies Blunt brand cigars; see blunt (adj.), which has been used of certain cigars since 19c.Users say that the Phillies Blunt brand produces less harsh-tasting or sweeter smoke. The leaf wrapper of a Phillies Blunt is strong enough to hold together through the manipulations of making a blunt. Other brands fall apart. [http://nepenthes.lycaeum.org/Drugs/THC/Smoke/blunts.html]
Example
- 1. Globe rupture can occur secondary to blunt or penetrating trauma .
- 2. In sad contrast sharp , like the rest of japan 's electronics industry , has gone blunt .
- 3. The line maneuvers between three strange arete-features , a more blunt one of the right , and a two more prominent ones on the left .
- 4. The main problem is that the capacitive screen for the ipad , which is designed to work well with the blunt instrument that is the human finger , doesn 't quite cut it with handwriting .
- 5. And at heart , business is not about theory , or white papers , or even blunt articles such as this one .