blunt
/blʌnt/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Adjective:
- Not sharp; having a thick or rounded edge: Used to describe a knife, blade, or point that is not sharp.
- Direct and straightforward in manner or speech; not trying to be polite or tactful: Characterized by frankness, often to the point of seeming rude or insensitive.
- Less intense or strong; dulled: Used to describe sensations, emotions, or effects that are not sharp or acute.
Verb:
- To make less sharp: To cause a blade or point to become dull.
- To make less intense, strong, or effective: To weaken the force, vigor, or sensitivity of something.
Examples of Usage
Adjective:
- The knife was too blunt to cut the tomato. (Describing a physical object)
- She appreciated his blunt honesty, even though it was harsh. (Describing manner/speech)
- He felt a blunt pain in his side after the fall. (Describing a sensation)
Verb:
- Using the knife on the ceramic plate will blunt the edge.
- Time had blunted the sharpness of his grief.
- The medication can blunt your appetite.
Advanced Usage
"A blunt instrument": Literally, an object not sharp enough to cut or pierce easily. Figuratively, a crude, unsubtle, or heavy-handed method or tool.
- The murder weapon was a blunt instrument, like a hammer.
- His management style was a blunt instrument, causing low morale.
"To be blunt (with you)": A phrase used to preface a very direct, often critical, statement.
- To be blunt, your proposal is not feasible.
Variants and Related Words
- Bluntly (adverb): In a blunt, direct manner.
- He stated his opinion bluntly.
- Bluntness (noun): The quality of being blunt.
- Her bluntness was sometimes mistaken for rudeness.
Synonyms
- Adjective (not sharp): Dull, unsharpened, rounded.
- Adjective (direct): Frank, candid, forthright, straightforward, outspoken, plainspoken.
- Verb (to make less sharp): Dull.
- Verb (to weaken): Dampen, deaden, numb, weaken, lessen.
Related Phrasal Verbs
(Note: "Blunt" is not commonly used in phrasal verb constructions. Its meanings are typically expressed directly.)
Related Idioms
- "Call a spade a spade": This idiom is synonymous with being blunt or very direct, speaking plainly without euphemism.
- She always calls a spade a spade, which is why people trust her honesty.
Adjective
- devoid of any qualifications or disguise or adornment
- the blunt truth
- the crude facts
- facing the stark reality of the deadline
- characterized by directness in manner or speech; without subtlety or evasion
- blunt talking and straight shooting
- a blunt New England farmer
- I gave them my candid opinion
- forthright criticism
- a forthright approach to the problem
- tell me what you think--and you may just as well be frank
- it is possible to be outspoken without being rude
- plainspoken and to the point
- a point-blank accusation
- used of a knife or other blade; not sharp
- a blunt instrument
- having a broad or rounded end
- thick marks made by a blunt pencil
Verb
- make less lively, intense, or vigorous; impair in vigor, force, activity, or sensation
- Terror blunted her feelings
- deaden a sound
- make less sharp
- blunt the knives
- make dull or blunt
- Too much cutting dulls the knife's edge
- make numb or insensitive
- The shock numbed her senses
- make less intense
- blunted emotions