purblind

Meaning

Adj

1. (literary) Of a person: having impaired vision; partially blind; dim-sighted.
2. (literary) Of the eyes: unable to see well, especially due to old age; weak.
3. (figuratively, literary) Of a person: lacking in discernment or understanding; dim-witted, unintelligent.
4. (figuratively, literary) Of a place: poorly illuminated; dark, dim.
5. (literary, obsolete) Completely blind.
6. (literary, obsolete) Having one eye blind.
7. (literary, obsolete) Near-sighted, short-sighted; myopic.
8. (literary, obsolete, rare) Far-sighted, long-sighted; hypermetropic.

Noun

A person who has impaired vision or is partially blind.

Verb

To cause (someone) to have impaired vision or become partially blind.

Opposite of

brainless, dumb, foolish, idiotic, imbecile, insensible, lowbrow, mindless, stupid, unintelligent, witless

Synonyms

obtuse

without foresight

dim-sighted

visually impaired

sand-blind

weak-sighted

near-blind

visually challenged

backward

dense

blind

shortsighted

slow

stupid

partially blind

Translations

kortzichtig

mankafa

anlayışsızlık

μισοστραβός

σχεδόν τυφλός

κοντόφθαλμος

obtuso

meio-cego

donuk gören

ضعيف النظر

yarı kör

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈpɜːblaɪnd/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: purblind

In summary

The adjective is derived from Middle English purblind (“(adjective) completely blind; blind in one eye; near-sighted; (noun) near-sighted animal, specifically a hare”) [and other forms], possibly from pur, pure (“completely, entirely”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pewH- (“to be clean; pure”); influenced by pur- (prefix meaning ‘completely; forward; in advance’)) + blind (“sightless, blind”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlendʰ- (“to blend, mix up; to make cloudy or opaque”)).
Sense 4.1 (“completely blind”) was the original sense. The senses denoting partial blindness are possibly the result of confusion of the first element pur- with poor, perhaps through folk etymology. (Compare parboil regarding per versus pars.)
The noun and verb are derived from the adjective.