obtundity

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English

Etymology

From obtund +‎ -ity.

Noun

obtundity (usually uncountable, plural obtundities)

  1. (rare, often medicine) The state or characteristic of having dulled senses or limited awareness.
    • 1824, Theophrastus (author), Francis Howell (translator), The Characters of Theophrastus, Josiah Taylor (London), p. 237 (Google preview):
      here are beings . . . revel, with a lively zest, among all the things that are most foul and loathsome. . . . Sensuality, force of temper, inertness, obtundity of perception, personal idolatry, and the destitution of the higher and better emotions of humanity, are the ingredients of a constitution of this order.
    • 1975, George Martin Yuill, The Treatment of Renal Failure, →ISBN, page 24:
      Clinically one sees gradually developing oedema, often a strikingly puffy face, increasing mental obtundity, the patient finally lapsing into confusion and stupor.
    • 2014, David J. Magee, Orthopedic Physical Assessment, →ISBN, page 104:
      The patient goes through the following stages of recovery: unconsciousness (also called paralytic coma), stupor, obtundity, lethargy, confusion (with or without delirium), near lucidity with automatism, and finally full alertness.
    • 2024 January 17, Andrew Barton, “'Obtundity' signs bewilder York residents and visitors”, in BBC News:
      Collins English Dictionary defines obtundity as the state of "having the senses numbed or less sharp."

Further reading

  • obtundity”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.