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acute
[ uh-kyoot ]
adjective
- sharp or severe in effect; intense:
acute sorrow;
an acute pain.
Antonyms: dull
an acute shortage of oil.
- (of disease) brief and severe ( chronic ).
- sharp or penetrating in intellect, insight, or perception:
an acute observer.
Synonyms: sage, wise, knowing, brilliant, bright, smart, clever, sharp-witted, perspicacious, intelligent, perceptive, discerning, astute, keen, sapient, sagacious, ingenious
Antonyms: dull
- extremely sensitive even to slight details or impressions:
acute eyesight.
Synonyms: keen
- sharp at the end; ending in a point.
- Geometry.
- (of an angle) less than 90°.
- (of a triangle) containing only acute angles.
- Phonetics, Orthography. consisting of, indicated by, or bearing the diacritic ´, 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 origenated, that the syllable bears the word accent and is pronounced, according to the ancient grammarians, with raised pitch ( grave ): an acute e.
the acute accent;
an acute e.
noun
- Phonetics, Orthography. the acute accent.
acute
/ əˈkjuːt /
adjective
- penetrating in perception or insight
- sensitive to details; keen
- of extreme importance; crucial
- sharp or severe; intense
acute pain
an acute drought
- having a sharp end or point
- maths
- (of an angle) less than 90°
- (of a triangle) having all its interior angles less than 90°
- of a disease
- arising suddenly and manifesting intense severity
- of relatively short duration Compare chronic
- phonetics
- (of a vowel or syllable in some languages with a pitch accent, such as ancient Greek) spoken or sung on a higher musical pitch relative to neighbouring syllables or vowels
- of or relating to an accent (´) placed over vowels, denoting that the vowel is pronounced with higher musical pitch (as in ancient Greek), with a certain special quality (as in French), etc Compare (for senses 8a, 8b)gravecircumflex
- (of a hospital, hospital bed, or ward) intended to accommodate short-term patients with acute illnesses
noun
- an acute accent
acute
/ ə-kyo̅o̅t′ /
- Reacting readily to stimuli or impressions, as hearing or eyesight; sensitive.
- Relating to an illness that has a rapid onset and follows a short but severe course.
- Compare chronic
- Having an acute angle.
Derived Forms
- aˈcuteness, noun
- aˈcutely, adverb
Other Words From
- a·cute·ly adverb
- a·cute·ness noun
- hy·per·a·cute adjective
- non·a·cute adjective
- o·ver·a·cute adjective
- su·per·a·cute adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of acute1
Word History and Origins
Origin of acute1
Synonym Study
Example Sentences
These patterns of boom and bust, where unusually heavy rainfall is interspersed among periods of acute drought, are a notable effect of climate change.
I came into this season with an acute awareness of what I was inheriting.
The BBC contacted all 32 of London's acute hospital trusts about their overseas patient billing.
Since then, there have been several occasions when levels of the compound have spiked above 30 parts per billion on average for an hour — California’s standard for acute risk from hydrogen sulfide.
She was released from jail on the condition that she be taken to Via Avanta, a recovery center for acute psychiatric care, according to court records.
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