ACUTE

acute

(adjective) having or experiencing a rapid onset and short but severe course; “acute appendicitis”; “the acute phase of the illness”; “acute patients”

acute

(adjective) of critical importance and consequence; “an acute (or critical) lack of research funds”

acute, intense

(adjective) extremely sharp or severe; “acute pain”; “felt acute annoyance”; “intense itching and burning”

acute, discriminating, incisive, keen, knifelike, penetrating, penetrative, piercing, sharp

(adjective) having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions; “an acute observer of politics and politicians”; “incisive comments”; “icy knifelike reasoning”; “as sharp and incisive as the stroke of a fang”; “penetrating insight”; “frequent penetrative observations”

acuate, acute, sharp, needlelike

(adjective) ending in a sharp point

acute

(adjective) of an angle; less than 90 degrees

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Adjective

acute (comparative acuter or more acute, superlative acutest or most acute)

Brief, quick, short.

Synonyms: fast, rapid

Antonyms: leisurely, slow

High or shrill.

Antonym: grave

Intense, sensitive, sharp.

Synonyms: keen, powerful, strong

Antonyms: dull, obtuse, slow, witless

Urgent.

Synonyms: emergent, pressing, sudden

(botany) With the sides meeting directly to form an acute angle (at an apex or base).

Antonym: obtuse

(geometry) Of an angle: less than 90 degrees.

Antonym: obtuse

(geometry) Of a triangle: having all three interior angles measuring less than 90 degrees.

Synonym: acute-angled

Antonyms: obtuse, obtuse-angled

(linguistics, chiefly, historical) Of an accent or tone: generally higher than others.

(medicine) Of an abnormal condition of recent or sudden onset, in contrast to delayed onset; this sense does not imply severity, unlike the common usage.

(medicine) Of a short-lived condition, in contrast to a chronic condition; this sense also does not imply severity.

Antonym: chronic

(orthography) After a letter of the alphabet: having an acute accent.

Noun

acute (plural acutes)

(medicine) A person who has the acute form of a disorder, such as schizophrenia.

(linguistics, chiefly, historical) An accent or tone higher than others.

Antonym: grave

(orthography) An acute accent (´).

Verb

acute (third-person singular simple present acutes, present participle acuting, simple past and past participle acuted)

(transitive, phonetics) To give an acute sound to.

(transitive, archaic) To make acute; to sharpen, to whet.

Anagrams

• AUTEC, Ceuta

Source: Wiktionary

A*cute", a. Etym: [L. acutus, p. p. of acuere to sharpen, fr. a root ak to be sharp. Cf. Ague, Cute, Edge.]

1. Sharp at the end; ending in a sharp point; pointed; -- opposed to blunt or obtuse; as, an acute angle; an acute leaf.

2. Having nice discernment; perceiving or using minute distinctions; penetrating; clever; shrewd; -- opposed to Ant: dull or Ant: stupid; as, an acute observer; acute remarks, or reasoning.

3. Having nice or quick sensibility; susceptible to slight impressions; acting keenly on the senses; sharp; keen; intense; as, a man of acute eyesight, hearing, or feeling; acute pain or pleasure.

4. High, or shrill, in respect to some other sound; -- opposed to grave or low; as, an acute tone or accent.

5. (Med.)

Definition: Attended with symptoms of some degree of severity, and coming speedily to a crisis; -- opposed to chronic; as, an acute disease. Acute angle (Geom.), an angle less than a right angle.

Syn.

– Subtile; ingenious; sharp; keen; penetrating; sagacious; sharp- witted; shrewd; discerning; discriminating. See Subtile.

A*cute", v. t.

Definition: To give an acute sound to; as, he acutes his rising inflection too much. [R.] Walker.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

ACUTE

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Adjective

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