acute

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Definitions (33)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (9)

  1. adjective Having a sharp point or tip.
  2. adjective Keenly perceptive or discerning: "a raw, chilling and psychologically acute novel of human passions reduced to their deadliest essence” (Literary Guild Magazine). See Synonyms at sharp.
  3. adjective Reacting readily to stimuli or impressions; sensitive: His hearing was unusually acute.

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Examples

  • I could only explain it to myself by saying that his impulse to fly at once from the scene of his disgrace was very acute, and therefore he resisted it, made up his mind not to budge, and so he sat there the butt of the derisive glances and whispered talk of everyone who came into the club in the next two or three hours. —  Oscar Wilde
  • The latter writer is an acute, alert, industrious, and picturesque comparer of his own and a neighboring country, and is accompanied by a light battery of literary and pictorial criticism, detached from his heavier home armament. —  A Study Of Hawthorne
  • That very evening my headache became acute, and I was seized with a strange shivering which lasted all night. —  The Story of a Soul
  • His argument on topics of less absurdity is specious and acute, his manner is lively, his style forcible and clear; and, had not his vigorous mind been clouded by enthusiasm, he might be ranked with the most agreeable and ingenious writers of the times. —  Memoirs of My Life and Writings
  • During the battles of the Wilderness, acute was the trepidation in Washington, where no news had come since a couple of days — Grant having —  The Lincoln Story Book
 

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Acute has been looked up 442 times, favorited once, listed 25 times, and commented on twice.

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

chronic ·  severe ·  keen ·  serious ·  vivid
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Latin acūtus, past participle of acuere, to sharpen, from acus, needle; see ak- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Latin acutus, sharp, past participle of acuere, sharpen, from √ *ac, be sharp, pierce: see acid.
 

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/əˈkjut/
by American Heritage

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