VocabAhead

Obtuse vs Abstruse

Obtuseadjective

slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity

Full entry for Obtuse

Abstruseadjective

difficult to penetrate; incomprehensible to one of ordinary understanding or knowledge

Full entry for Abstruse

The difference

Obtuse describes a person who is slow to understand. Abstruse describes a subject that is hard to understand.

How to keep them apart

The fault is in opposite places: an obtuse reader, an abstruse text.

Other pairs worth knowing

All confused pairs · SAT list · GRE list · Full word list