Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Having or showing shrewdness and discernment, especially with respect to one's own concerns. See Synonyms at shrewd.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Of keen penetration or discernment; cunning; sagacious.
- Synonyms Sagacious, Sage, Knowing, Astute, Subtle. Sagacious and sage are used only in good senses, and when applied to persons generally suggest the wisdom of age or experience. The knowing man has wide knowledge and often penetration. The word knowing has also a humorous cast: as, he gave me a knowing wink; it may be used ironically: as, he is a little too knowing, that is, he thinks he knows more than he does; it may be used of knowing more than one has a right to know; it sometimes suggests a disposition to make ill use of knowledge: as, a knowing leer. Astute is often the same as sagacious, but is susceptible of an unfavorable sense in the direction of a narrow shrewdness, slyness, or cunning; it often means a sagacity that knows how to be silent; it is frequently applied to looks. Subtle, in its good sense, implies great acuteness, delicacy, or refinement in mental action: as, a subtle reasoner. For its bad sense, see cunning.
Wiktionary
- adj. quickly and critically discerning
- adj. shrewd or crafty
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Critically discerning; sagacious; shrewd; subtle; crafty.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. marked by practical hardheaded intelligence
Etymologies
- Latin astūtus, from astus ‘craft’. (Wiktionary)
- Latin astūtus, from astus, craft; see wes-1 in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“While Bernard Gunderson was known as an astute businessman with a knack for good timing, Phillips said that above all, he lived a quiet, principled life.”
“The deal allies the bank with a billionaire investor known as an astute judge of value, who emerged during the financial crisis as an outspoken advocate of investing in America's future.”
“Most so-called astute mortgage shoppers think they should call around to shop rates.”
“By the end of the evening I found myself recalling the astute diagnosis of a friend: "He doesn't just speak fluent German; he speaks fluent Western, too.”
“Had Eustache been more astute, that is to say, less greedy, he would have waited, and not till they had returned to the University, to Maître Andry Musniers house in the Rue Madame-la-Valence, and he had put the two arms of the Seine and the five bridges of the city between the Rat-Hole and the cake, would he have hazarded this question.”
“He even called the astute Terrapin a humbug, and toward midnight grew quarrelsome.”
“[136] Ryland street recalls the astute and able secretary and adviser to many Governors, the Hon.”
“While the controlling Kwok family are known as astute investors, veering so clearly away from a core business is usually a red flag.”
“While his supporters would characterize him as "astute" and his critics as "devious," few could reasonably disagree that Fowler was the main mover in the APA for the fifteen years leading up to the torture debacle.”
“And only someone who calls himself "astute" could take a comment in a blog out of context.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘astute’.
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1100
abound, technology, branch of knowled..., prognosticate, automaton, matron, an older married ..., realm, special field of ..., kingdom, annals, historical records and 981 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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GRE 2014
abate, abdicate, abase, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
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Words For Novel (Part 2)
fable, sprite, syphilitic, anvil, wonderstruck, vertigo, bridled, tufted, fettered, savvy, tweed fedora, tryst and 255 more...
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GRE
GRE words from Princeton Review guide, ETS GRE Book from 2010 (for revised test), New Yorker/NY Times articles.
sycophant, obsequious, volubility, equanimity, enervate, effrontery, impertinent, platitude, impudence, quiescent, propitiate, equivocate and 124 more...
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GRE 1100
drudgery, implore, hapless, nuance, wrest, incipient, inadvertent, tremulous, bristle, euphemism, disdain, pugnacious and 346 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1908 more...
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ASTUTE
This lists the words associated with ASTUTE
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1100 words you need to know
GRE words
voracious, indiscriminate, replete, steeped, eminent, perceive, intrepid, compound, automaton, reticent, interminable, drudgery and 288 more...
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Words I Know
List of most of the words I've learned
garner, abase, abate, abdicate, abduct, aberration, abet, abhor, abide, abject, abjure, abnegation and 1046 more...
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SAT vocab
abash, abdicate, abate, aberration, abhor, abject, abnegate, abortive, absolve, abstruse, accolade, accost and 175 more...
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Faves
nepenthe, cupidity, anodyne, obdurate, doleful, obsolescent, quale, piquant, velleity, inchoate, disport, facile and 366 more...
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SAT PSAT ALPHABETICAL A
abandon, abash, abate, abjure, ablution, abnegate, abominable, aboriginal, abortive, abrade, abridge, abrogate and 172 more...
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Words to Learn
colloquium, resilient, ruminate, missive, sylvan, indefatigable, preclude, prowess, quiescent, caustic, verdant, specter and 119 more...
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List Erine
cool mint antiseptic
shalom, cattywampus, bourgeoisie, aerophile, traverse, grotto, epicurean, ex cathedra, nautilus, epitaph, lathe, continuum and 753 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for astute.
dailyword Worf used this word when Data was talking about a robotic arm that grabbed him. Jun 12, 2012