Acute Definition

ə-kyo͝ot
adjective
acutest
Reacting readily to stimuli or impressions; sensitive.
His hearing was unusually acute.
American Heritage
Having a sharp point.
Webster's New World
Keenly perceptive or discerning.
An acute critic of music; a critic with acute judgment.
American Heritage
Keen or quick of mind; shrewd.
Webster's New World
Sensitive to impressions.
Acute hearing.
Webster's New World
noun
(orthography) An acute accent.
The word “cafe” often has an acute over the ‘e’.
Wiktionary
verb
(phonetics) To give an acute sound to.
He acutes his rising inflection too much.
Wiktionary

Other Word Forms of Acute

Adjective

Base Form:
acute
Superlative:
acutest

Origin of Acute

  • From Latin acūtus (“sharp”), perfect passive participle of acuō (“sharpen, make sharp”). Cognate to ague (“acute, intermittent fever”).

    From Wiktionary

  • Latin acūtus past participle of acuere to sharpen from acus needle ak- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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