English
blunt
see also: Blunt
Pronunciation
  • (British, America) IPA: /blʌnt/
Etymology 1

From Middle English blunt, blont, from Old English *blunt (attested in the derivative Blunta > English surnames Blunt, Blount), probably of gmq - origin, possibly related to Old Norse blunda > 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.
    • 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.
    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
  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 Translations Translations Translations Translations 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: 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: 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 Etymology 2

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

Verb

blunt (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.
Synonyms Translations Translations
Blunt
Etymology

Two possible origins:

  • From Anglo-Norman blunt, a nickname for someone with fair hair or a light complexion.
  • From Middle English blunt, a nickname for a stupid person.
Proper noun
  1. Surname.
  2. A minor city in Hughes County, South Dakota.


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