acute

acute
—acutely, adv. —acuteness, n.
/euh kyooht"/, adj.
1. sharp or severe in effect; intense: acute sorrow; an acute pain.
2. extremely great or serious; crucial; critical: an acute shortage of oil.
3. (of disease) brief and severe (opposed to chronic).
4. sharp or penetrating in intellect, insight, or perception: an acute observer.
5. extremely sensitive even to slight details or impressions: acute eyesight.
6. sharp at the end; ending in a point.
7. Geom.
a. (of an angle) less than 90°. See diag. under angle.
b. (of a triangle) containing only acute angles. See diag. under triangle.
8. consisting of, indicated by, or bearing the mark /, placed over vowel symbols in some languages to show that the vowels or the syllables they are in are pronounced in a certain way, as in French that the quality of an e so marked is close; in Hungarian that the vowel is long; in Spanish that the marked syllable bears the word accent; in Ibo that it is pronounced with high tones; or in classical Greek, where the mark originated, that the syllable bears the word accent and is pronounced, according to the ancient grammarians, with raised pitch (opposed to grave): the acute accent; an acute e.
n.
9. the acute accent.
[1560-70; < L acutus sharpened, ptp. of acuere (acu-, v. stem, akin to acus needle, acer sharp + -tus ptp. suffix)]
Syn. 3. sudden, distressing, violent. 4. keen, astute, discerning, perceptive, intelligent, perspicacious; sharp-witted, clever, smart, bright, ingenious, brilliant; knowing, wise, sage, sagacious, sapient. ACUTE, PENETRATING, SHREWD imply a keenness of understanding, perception, or insight. ACUTE suggests particularly a clearness of perception and a realization of related meanings: an acute intellect. PENETRATING adds the idea of depth of perception and a realization of implications: a wise and penetrating judgment. SHREWD adds the idea of knowing how to apply practically (or to one's own advantage) what one perceives and understands: wary and shrewd. 5. keen.
Ant. 1, 4, 5. dull.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Synonyms:
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Look at other dictionaries:

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  • Acute — may refer to: * Acute angle * Acute accent * Acute (medicine) * Acute (phonetic) * Acute (programming language) * The Acute a band …   Wikipedia

  • acute — [ə kyo͞ot′] adj. [L acutus, pp. of acuere, sharpen: see ACUMEN] 1. having a sharp point 2. keen or quick of mind; shrewd 3. sensitive to impressions [acute hearing] 4. severe and sharp, as pain, jealousy, etc. 5. severe but of s …   English World dictionary

  • acute — 1 *sharp, keen Analogous words: *incisive, trenchant, cutting: penetrating, piercing (see ENTER) Antonyms: obtuse Contrasted words: *dull, blunt: *stupid, slow, dull, crass, dense …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • acute — UK US /əˈkjuːt/ adjective ► if a bad situation is acute, it causes severe problems or damage: »The problem is particularly acute for small businesses. »an acute conflict/crisis/need …   Financial and business terms

  • acute — acute; acute·ness; per·acute; sub·acute; …   English syllables

  • acute — [adj1] deeply perceptive astute, canny, clever, discerning, discriminating, incisive, ingenious, insightful, intense, intuitive, judicious, keen, observant, penetrating, perspicacious, piercing, quick witted, sensitive, sharp, smart, subtle;… …   New thesaurus

  • Acute — A*cute , v. t. To give an acute sound to; as, he acutes his rising inflection too much. [R.] Walker. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • acute — I adjective acer, acuminate, acutus, alert, apt, astute, aware, clear sighted, critical, crucial, cutting, discerning, fine, foreseeing, intense, intuitive, keen, keenly sensitive, knowledgeable, penetrating, perceptive, perspicacious, perspicax …   Law dictionary

  • acute — (adj.) late 14c., originally of fevers and diseases, coming and going quickly (opposed to a chronic), from L. acutus sharp, pointed, figuratively shrill, penetrating; intelligent, cunning, pp. of acuere sharpen (see ACUITY (Cf. acuity)). Meaning… …   Etymology dictionary

  • acute — ► ADJECTIVE 1) (of something bad) critical; serious. 2) (of an illness) coming sharply to a crisis. Often contrasted with CHRONIC(Cf. ↑chronicity). 3) perceptive; shrewd. 4) (of a physical sense or faculty) highly developed. 5) (of an angle) less …   English terms dictionary

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