blunt - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
- (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA(key): /blʌnt/
- (Northern England) IPA(key): /blʊnt/
- Rhymes: -ʌnt
From Middle English blunt, blont, from Old English *blunt, probably of North Germanic origin, possibly related to Old Norse blunda (“to doze”) (> Icelandic blunda, Swedish blunda, Danish blunde).
blunt (comparative blunter, superlative bluntest)
- Having a thick edge or point; not sharp.
- c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iv]:
The murderous knife was dull and blunt. - 1944, Miles Burton, The Three Corpse Trick, chapter 5:
The dinghy was trailing astern at the end of its painter, and Merrion looked at it as he passed. He saw that it was a battered-looking affair of the prahm type, with a blunt snout, and like the parent ship, had recently been painted a vivid green.
- c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iv]:
- (derogatory) Dull in understanding; slow of discernment; opposed to acute.
- 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene v]:
His wits are not so blunt.
- 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene v]:
- (derogatory) Abrupt in address; plain; unceremonious; wanting in the forms of civility; rough in manners or speech.
I was taken aback by the blunt admission that he had never liked my company.- 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
a plain, blunt man
- 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
- Hard to impress or penetrate.
- December 30, 1736, Alexander Pope, letter to Jonathan Swift
I find my heart hardened and blunt to new impressions.
- December 30, 1736, Alexander Pope, letter to Jonathan Swift
- Slow or deficient in feeling: insensitive.
(having a thick edge or point): dull, pointless, coarse, obtuse
(abrupt in address): curt, short, rude, brusque, impolite, uncivil, harsh, robust
having a thick edge or point, not sharp — see also dull
- Aklanon: dumpoe
- Altai:
Southern Altai: томтык (tomtïk), моко (moko), ӧтпӧс (ötpös) - Arabic: كَلِيل (kalīl)
- Armenian: բութ (hy) (butʻ)
- Bashkir: үтмәҫ (ütməś), тупаҫ (tupaś), тупаҡ (tupaq)
- Basque: kamuts
- Belarusian: тупы́ (tupý)
- Bhojpuri: कुंद (kund)
- Bulgarian: тъп (bg) (tǎp), притъпен (bg) (pritǎpen)
- Burmese: တုံး (my) (tum:)
- Catalan: rom (ca)
- Chinese:
Mandarin: 鈍 / 钝 (zh) (dùn) - Czech: tupý (cs) m
- Danish: sløv
- Dutch: stomp (nl), bot (nl)
- Esperanto: malakra
- Estonian: nüri (et)
- Finnish: tylppä (fi), tylsä (fi)
- French: émoussé (fr)
- Galician: moucho (gl), obtuso (gl), mouco (gl)
- Georgian: ბლაგვი (ka) (blagvi)
- German: stumpf (de), abgestumpft (de)
- Greek: αμβλύς (el) (amvlýs)
Ancient Greek: ἀμβλύς (amblús), κωφός (kōphós) - Hebrew: קֵהֶה (he) m (qehé)
- Hindi: कुंद (hi) (kund)
- Hungarian: tompa (hu), életlen (hu)
- Icelandic: sljór (is)
- Indonesian: tumpul (id), majal (id)
- Ingrian: tyltsä, nyrhi, tylppä
- Italian: spuntato (it)
- Japanese: 鈍い (ja) (にぶい, nibui)
- Khmer: រឹល (km) (rɨl)
- Korean: 무딘 (ko) (mudin)
- Kyrgyz: мокок (ky) (mokok)
- Latin: obtusus, hebes, retusus
- Latvian: truls, neass
- Lithuanian: bukas
- Macedonian: тап (tap)
- Malay: tumpul (ms)
- Manx: neuvirragh, angheyre
- Māori: kotehe, pūnuki, hāpūpū, pūhoi, nguture, pūnguru, pūhuki, kuruhuki, tūnguru, kiporo
- Mongolian: мохоо (mn) (moxoo)
- Norwegian:
Bokmål: stump (no)
Nynorsk: stump - Occitan: mos
- Persian: کند (fa) (kond)
- Polish: tępy (pl)
- Portuguese: cego (pt), rombo (pt), obtuso (pt)
- Romanian: tocit (ro), neascutit, bont (ro)
- Russian: тупо́й (ru) (tupój)
- Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: туп
Latin: tup (sh) - Sicilian: tunnu (scn)
- Slovak: tupý
- Slovene: top (sl)
- Spanish: romo (es), obtuso (es), desafilado (es), despuntado (es), contundente (es), tundente, pompo, boto (es), botoso
- Swedish: trubbig (sv)
- Tamil: மழுங்கிய (ta) (maḻuṅkiya), மொக்கையான (mokkaiyāṉa)
- Tausug: tumpul
- Thai: ทู่ (th) (tûu), ทื่อ (th) (tʉ̂ʉ)
- Turkish: küt (tr)
Ottoman Turkish: كور (kör) - Ukrainian: тупи́й (tupýj)
- Vietnamese: cùn (vi)
- Welsh: pŵl (cy), di-awch
- Zazaki: xırt
dull in understanding; slow of discernment
- Armenian: բութ (hy) (butʻ)
- Bulgarian: тъп (bg) (tǎp), глупав (bg) (glupav)
- Danish: sløv
- Finnish: hidasälyinen (fi)
- French: sot (fr), obtus (fr), idiot (fr)
- Galician: mouco (gl), obtuso (gl)
- German: stumpf (de), träge (de)
- Greek: αμβλύς (el) (amvlýs)
- Italian: ottuso (it) m
- Korean: 무딘 (ko) (mudin)
- Macedonian: тап (tap)
- Mongolian: мохоо (mn) (moxoo)
- Persian: کند (fa) (kond)
- Portuguese: obtuso (pt)
- Russian: тупо́й (ru) (tupój)
- Spanish: obtuso (es), boto (es), botoso
- Tamil: மந்தம் (ta) (mantam)
- Thai: ทื่อ (th) (tʉ̂ʉ)
abrupt in address; plain; unceremonious
- Arabic: please add this translation if you can
- Bulgarian: рязък (bg) (rjazǎk), безцеремонен (bg) (bezceremonen)
- Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can - Dutch: bot (nl)
- Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
- Estonian: otsekohene
- Finnish: suorasukainen (fi)
- French: abrupt (fr)
- Galician: ríspeto, brusco (gl)
- German: ungehobelt (de), unverblümt (de)
- Hindi: मुँहफट (hi) (mũhphaṭ)
- Japanese: ストレート (ja) (sutorēto)
- Macedonian: груб (grub), на́гол (nágol), о́тсечен (ótsečen), о́стар (óstar)
- Polish: bezceremonialny (pl)
- Portuguese: brusco (pt)
- Russian: гру́бый (ru) (grúbyj)
- Sicilian: schittu, francu
- Spanish: brusco (es), franco (es), directo (es), terminante
- Tamil: அப்பட்டம் (ta) (appaṭṭam), அப்பட்டமான (appaṭṭamāṉa)
- Thai: ทื่อ (th) (tʉ̂ʉ)
- Welsh: di-flewyn-ar-dafod (cy), plaen (cy), diseremoni
Translations to be checked
blunt (countable and uncountable, plural blunts)
- A fencer's practice foil with a soft tip.
- A short needle with a strong point.
- (smoking, slang, US) A marijuana cigar.
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:marijuana cigarette- 2004, Martin Torgoff, “The Temple of Accumulated Error”, in Can’t Find My Way Home: America in the Great Stoned Age, 1945–2000, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 461:
[…] to make his point, lead rapper B-Real fired up a blunt in front of the cameras and several hundred thousand people and announced, “I'm taking a hit for every one of y'all!”
- 2004, Martin Torgoff, “The Temple of Accumulated Error”, in Can’t Find My Way Home: America in the Great Stoned Age, 1945–2000, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 461:
- (UK, slang, archaic, uncountable) Money.
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:money - A playboating move resembling a cartwheel performed on a wave.
cigar filled with marijuana
- Catalan: porro (ca) m, peta (ca) m
- Finnish: bluntti (fi)
- French: blunt (fr) m
- Galician: peta f
- German: Blunt (de) m
- Polish: blant (pl) m
- Portuguese: beque (pt) m
- Russian: кося́к (ru) (kosják) (slang)
- Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: бу̏ксна
Latin: bȕksna - Spanish: porro (es) m, filin m, blon m
- Swedish: joint (sv) c, jolle (sv) c, joppe (sv) c
- Tamil: சுருட்டு (ta) (curuṭṭu)
From Middle English blunten, blonten, from the adjective (see above).
blunt (third-person singular simple present blunts, present participle blunting, simple past and past participle blunted)
- To dull the edge or point of, by making it thicker; to make blunt.
- (figuratively) To repress or weaken; to impair the force, keenness, or susceptibility, of
It blunted my appetite.
My feeling towards her have been blunted.- 2011 January 12, Saj Chowdhury, “Liverpool 2 - 1 Liverpool”, in BBC[1]:
That settled the Merseysiders for a short while but it did not blunt the home side's spirit. - 2022 August 24, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Rail strikes deadlock”, in RAIL, number 964, page 3:
I'm not saying that thousands of folk are not being inconvenienced, because they most certainly are, but the impact of strikes on government has been blunted.
- 2011 January 12, Saj Chowdhury, “Liverpool 2 - 1 Liverpool”, in BBC[1]:
to dull the edge or point of, by making it thicker
- Bulgarian: притъпявам (bg) (pritǎpjavam)
- Finnish: tylsyttää
- French: émousser (fr)
- German: abstumpfen (de)
- Greek: αμβλύνω (el) (amvlýno)
Ancient Greek: ἀμβλύνω (amblúnō) - Italian: smussare (it), spuntare (it)
- Macedonian: та́пи (tápi)
- Māori: tiwhatiwha, whakapūhuki, whakahāpūpū, whakapūhoi
- Naga:
Khiamniungan Naga: tāi - Portuguese: cegar (pt)
- Spanish: embotar (es), despuntar (es), desafilar (es), enromar (es)
- Swedish: trubba (sv)
- Tamil: மழுங்கடி (ta) (maḻuṅkaṭi), முழுக்கு (ta) (muḻukku), கூர்கெடு (kūrkeṭu)
- Welsh: pylu (cy)
to repress or weaken
Finnish: latistaa (fi), (colloquial) lässäyttää
Greek: αμβλύνω (el) (amvlýno)
Ancient Greek: ἀμβλύνω (amblúnō)“blunt”, in Collins English Dictionary, 2011–present.
“blunt”, in Merriam-Webster.com Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
“blunt”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
“blunt”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
From Frankish *blund, from Proto-Germanic *blundaz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlendʰ-.
blunt m (oblique and nominative feminine singular blunde)
- alternative form of blont
Unadapted borrowing from English blunt.
blunt m animal
- “blunt”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego[2] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
- “blunt”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN[3] (in Polish)
Unadapted borrowing from English blunt.
blunt m (plural blunts)
- blunt (a marijuana cigar)
According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.