blunt

See also: Blunt

English

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /blʌnt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌnt

Etymology 1

From Middle English blunt, blont, from Old English *blunt (attested in the derivative Blunta (male personal name) (> English surnames Blunt, Blount)), probably of North Germanic origin, possibly related to Old Norse blunda (“to doze”) (> Icelandic blunda, Swedish blunda, Danish blunde).

Adjective

blunt (comparative blunter, superlative bluntest)

1. 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.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 17, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     The face which emerged was not reassuring. It was blunt and grey, the nose springing thick and flat from high on the frontal bone of the forehead, whilst his eyes were narrow slits of dark in a tight bandage of tissue. […] .

2. 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.

3. Abrupt in address; plain; unceremonious; wanting the forms of civility; rough in manners or speech.

   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

4. Hard to impress or penetrate.
   • December 30, 1736, Alexander Pope, letter to Jonathan Swift

     I find my heart hardened and blunt to new impressions.

5. Slow or deficient in feeling: insensitive.

Synonyms

• (having a thick edge or point): dull, pointless, coarse
• (dull in understanding): stupid, obtuse
• (abrupt in address): curt, short, rude, brusque, impolite, uncivil, harsh

Derived terms

• blunten
• blunt instrument
• bluntly
• bluntness
• blunt-nosed viper
• blunt-witted

 

Translations

having a thick edge or point, not sharp

• Aklanon: dumpoe
• Arabic: كَلِيل (kalīl)
• Armenian: բութ (hy) (butʻ)
• Bashkir: үтмәҫ (ütməś), тупаҫ (tupaś), тупаҡ (tupaq)
• Basque: kamuts
• Belarusian: тупы́ (tupý)
• 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: ἀμβλύς (amblús), κωφός (kōphós)

• Hebrew: קֵהֶה (he) m (qehé)
• Hungarian: tompa (hu)
• Icelandic: sljór (is)
• Indonesian: tumpul (id), majal (id)
• Ingrian: tyltsä, nyrhi
• 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
• Maori: kotehe, pūnuki, hāpūpū, pūhoi, nguture, pūnguru, pūhuki, kuruhuki, tūnguru, kiporo
• Mongolian: мохоо (mn) (moxoo)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: stump (no)

  Nynorsk: stump

• 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

  Roman: tup (sh)

• Slovak: tupý
• Slovene: top (sl)
• Spanish: romo (es), obtuso (es)
• Swedish: trubbig (sv)
• Tamil: please add this translation if you can
• Tausug: tumpul
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: küt (tr)
• 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)

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

• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Estonian: otsekohene
• Finnish: suorasukainen (fi)
• French: abrupt (fr)
• Galician: ríspeto, brusco
• German: ungehobelt (de), unverblümt (de)
• Japanese: ストレート (sutorēto)
• Macedonian: груб (grub), на́гол (nágol), о́тсечен (ótsečen), о́стар (óstar)
• Polish: bezceremonialny (pl)
• Portuguese: brusco (pt)
• Russian: гру́бый (ru) (grúbyj)
• Spanish: brusco (es)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Welsh: di-flewyn-ar-dafod (cy), plaen (cy), diseremoni

hard to impress or penetrate

• Bulgarian: нечувствителен (bg) (nečuvstvitelen)
• German: abgestumpft (de)
• Italian: spuntato (it)
• Portuguese: obtuso (pt)

Noun

blunt (plural blunts)

1. A fencer's practice foil with a soft tip.
2. A short needle with a strong point.
3. (smoking, slang, US) A marijuana cigar.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:marijuana cigarette

   • 2004, Martin Torgoff, Can't Find My Way Home […] , 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!”

4. (UK, slang, archaic, uncountable) money

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:money

   • 1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, chapter 10, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC:

     Down he goes to the Commons, to see the lawyer and draw the blunt […]

5. A playboating move resembling a cartwheel performed on a wave.

Translations

fencer's practice foil

short needle with a strong point

• Finnish: tylppä neula

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

  Roman: bȕksna

• Spanish: porro (es) m, filin m, blon m
• Swedish: joint (sv) c, jolle (sv) c, joppe (sv) c

Etymology 2

From Middle English blunten, blonten, from the adjective (see above).

Verb

blunt (third-person singular simple present blunts, present participle blunting, simple past and past participle blunted)

1. To dull the edge or point of, by making it thicker; to make blunt.
2. (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.

Synonyms

• blunten

Translations

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: ἀμβλύνω (amblúnō)

• Italian: smussare (it), spuntare (it)
• Macedonian: та́пи (tápi)
• Maori: tiwhatiwha, whakapūhuki, whakahāpūpū, whakapūhoi
• Portuguese: cegar (pt)
• Spanish: embotar (es)
• Swedish: trubba (sv)
• Welsh: pylu (cy)

to repress or weaken

• Dutch: afzwakken (nl)
• Finnish: latistaa (fi), (colloquial) lässäyttää
• French: réprimer (fr)
• Greek: αμβλύνω (el) (amvlýno)

  Ancient: ἀμβλύνω (amblúnō)

• Portuguese: reprimir (pt)
• Spanish: embotar (es)

See also

• bluntly
• dull

Further reading

• “blunt”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “blunt”, in Merriam-Webster 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.

Old French

Etymology

From Frankish *blund, from Proto-Germanic *blundaz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlendʰ-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blunt/

Adjective

blunt m (oblique and nominative feminine singular blunde)

1. Alternative form of blont

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English blunt.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blant/
• Rhymes: -ant
• Syllabification: blunt

Noun

blunt m animal

1. (slang) Alternative spelling of blant

Declension

Declension of blunt

	singular	plural
nominative	blunt	blunty
genitive	blunta	bluntów
dative	bluntowi	bluntom
accusative	blunta	blunty
instrumental	bluntem	bluntami
locative	bluncie	bluntach
vocative	bluncie	blunty

Further reading

• blunt in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• blunt in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English blunt.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈblant/ [ˈblãn̪t̪]
• Rhymes: -ant

Noun

blunt m (plural blunts)

1. blunt (a marijuana cigar)

Usage notes

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.