acute

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a·cute

(ə-kyo͞ot′)

adj.

a. Reacting readily to stimuli or impressions; sensitive: His hearing was unusually acute.

b. Keenly perceptive or discerning: an acute critic of music; a critic with acute judgment. See Synonyms at sharp.

2. Extremely sharp or severe; intense: acute pain; acute pleasure.

3. Of great importance or consequence; critical: an acute shortage of funds.

4. Medicine

a. Having a rapid onset and following a short but severe course: an acute disease.

b. Afflicted by a disease exhibiting a rapid onset followed by a short, severe course: acute patients.

5. High in pitch; shrill: an acute scream.

a. Narrowly pointed; sharp: an acute leaf.

b. Having an acute angle: an acute triangle.

[Latin acūtus, past participle of acuere, to sharpen, from acus, needle; see ak- in Indo-European roots.]

a·cute′ly adv.

a·cute′ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

acute

(əˈkjuːt)

adj

1. penetrating in perception or insight

2. sensitive to details; keen

3. of extreme importance; crucial

4. sharp or severe; intense: acute pain; an acute drought.

5. having a sharp end or point

6. (Mathematics) maths

a. (of an angle) less than 90°

b. (of a triangle) having all its interior angles less than 90°

7. (Medicine) (of a disease)

a. arising suddenly and manifesting intense severity

b. of relatively short duration. Compare chronic²

8. (Phonetics & Phonology) phonetics

a. (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

b. 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): grave or circumflex

9. (Medicine) (of a hospital, hospital bed, or ward) intended to accommodate short-term patients with acute illnesses

(Printing, Lithography & Bookbinding) an acute accent

[C14: from Latin acūtus, past participle of acuere to sharpen, from acus needle]

aˈcutely adv

aˈcuteness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

a•cute

(əˈkyut)

adj.

1. sharp or severe in effect; intense: acute pain.

2. extremely great or serious: an acute shortage of oil.

3. (of disease) brief and severe (disting. from chronic).

4. penetrating in intellect, insight, or perception.

5. sensitive even to slight details or impressions: acute eyesight.

6. sharp at the end; pointed.

a. (of an angle) less than 90°.

b. (of a triangle) containing only acute angles. See diag. at triangle.

8. consisting of, indicated by, or bearing an acute accent.

[1560–70; < Latin acūtus sharpened, past participle of acuere, akin to acus needle]

a•cute′ly, adv.

a•cute′ness, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	acute - a mark (') placed above a vowel to indicate pronunciation acute accent, ague accent mark, accent - a diacritical mark used to indicate stress or placed above a vowel to indicate a special pronunciation
Adj.	1.	acute - having or experiencing a rapid onset and short but severe course; "acute appendicitis"; "the acute phase of the illness"; "acute patients" medical specialty, medicine - the branches of medical science that deal with nonsurgical techniques chronic - being long-lasting and recurrent or characterized by long suffering; "chronic indigestion"; "a chronic shortage of funds"; "a chronic invalid"
	2.	acute - extremely sharp or intense; "acute pain"; "felt acute annoyance"; "intense itching and burning" intense sharp - keenly and painfully felt; as if caused by a sharp edge or point; "a sharp pain"; "sharp winds"
	3.	acute - 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" penetrating, penetrative, piercing, incisive, keen, knifelike, discriminating, sharp perceptive - having the ability to perceive or understand; keen in discernment; "a perceptive eye"; "a perceptive observation"
	4.	acute - of an angle; less than 90 degrees obtuse - of an angle; between 90 and 180 degrees
	5.	acute - ending in a sharp point acuate, needlelike, sharp pointed - having a point
	6.	acute - of critical importance and consequence; "an acute (or critical) lack of research funds" critical - being in or verging on a state of crisis or emergency; "a critical shortage of food"; "a critical illness"; "an illness at the critical stage"

acute

adjective

1. serious, important, dangerous, critical, crucial, alarming, severe, grave, sudden, urgent, decisive The war aggravated an acute economic crisis.

2. sharp, shooting, powerful, violent, severe, intense, overwhelming, distressing, stabbing, cutting, fierce, piercing, racking, exquisite, poignant, harrowing, overpowering, shrill, excruciating His back is arched as if in acute pain.

3. keen, good, penetrating, finely honed In the dark my sense of smell and hearing become so acute.

4. perceptive, sharp, keen, smart, sensitive, clever, subtle, piercing, penetrating, discriminating, discerning, ingenious, astute, intuitive, canny, incisive, insightful, observant, perspicacious His relaxed exterior hides an extremely acute mind.
perceptive slow, stupid, dull, dim, dense, obtuse, unintelligent, dim-witted

5. intense, serious, deep, concentrated, severe, extreme, fierce, harsh, intensive, excessive, profound, agonizing a patient with acute rheumatoid arthritis

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

acute

adjective

1. Having an end that tapers to a point:

acicular, aciculate, aciculated, acuminate, cuspate, cuspated, cuspidate, cuspidated, mucronate, pointed, pointy, sharp.

2. Possessing or displaying perceptions of great accuracy and sensitivity:

incisive, keen, penetrating, perceptive, probing, sensitive, sharp, trenchant.

3. So serious as to be at the point of crisis or necessary to resolve a crisis:

climacteric, critical, crucial, desperate, dire.

4. Marked by severity or intensity:

gnawing, knifelike, lancinating, piercing, sharp, shooting, stabbing.

5. Music. Elevated in pitch:

high, high-pitched, piercing, piping, shrieky, shrill, shrilly, treble.

Translations

حِسْذَكَاءصَوتقَاس، مُبَرِّح، شَدِيدنَقْص

akutníbystrýjemnýkritickýostrý

akutfinskarpskarpsindig

akut scharf scharfsinnig schrill spitz

agudo grave penetrante perspicaz fino

ägelihtrõhk

akuuttikiireinentarkkaterävä

aigu fin incisif mordant perçant

akutheveny

ákafur, alvarlegurbráîurnæmurskarpur

acuto intensivo nitido sottile

aštriaididelisįžvalgussmailus kampasūmiai

akūtsassatjautīgsīstsliels

akutt alvorlig fin skarp

острый острый угол

akútny

büyük ciddigözü açıkkeskin şiddetli

嚴重的尖声的急性的敏捷的敏銳的

acute

[əˈkjuːt] ADJ

1. (= intense) [crisis, shortage, problem] → grave; [anxiety, joy] → profundo, intenso; [pain] → agudo; [discomfort] → fuerte
the report has caused the government acute embarrassment → el informe ha puesto en una situación de lo más embarazosa al gobierno
to become acute [shortage, problem] → agravarse

2. (= keen) [hearing] → fino, agudo; [sense of smell] → fino
to have acute powers of observation → tener agudas or grandes dotes de observación

3. (= shrewd) [person, mind, comment] → agudo, perspicaz
that was very acute of you! → ¡qué perspicaz! → ¡eres un lince!

4. (Med) [illness, case, appendicitis] → agudo

5. (Geom) [angle] → agudo

6. (Ling) [accent] → agudo
e acute → e con acento agudo

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

acute

[əˈkjuːt] adj

(= severe) [crisis, shortage] → grave; [embarrassment] → profond(e)

(MEDICINE) [illness, arthritis] → aigu(ë)

(= keen, perceptive) [mind, observer] → clairvoyant(e); [hearing] → fin(e); [eyesight] → perçant(e)

e acute → e accent aigu

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

acute

adj

(= intense, serious) pain, shortage, appendicitis → akut; pleasure → intensiv; acute beds (Med) → Akutbetten pl

(= extreme) situation, problem, anxiety → akut; embarrassment → riesig

(= keen) eyesight → scharf; hearing, sense of smell → fein

(= shrewd) → scharf; person → scharfsinnig; child → aufgeweckt

(Math) angle → spitz

(Ling) acute accent → Akut m; e acute → e Akut

n (Ling) → Akut m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

acute

[əˈkjuːt] adj (eyesight, accent, angle) → acuto/a; (hearing, smell) → fine; (pain, anxiety, joy) → intenso/a; (crisis, shortage) → grave; (person, mind) → perspicace, dotato/a di acume

acute

(əˈkjuːt) adjective

1. (of a disease etc) severe but not lasting very long. They think his illness is acute rather than chronic.

2. very great. There is an acute shortage of teachers.

3. quick-witted. As a businessman, he's very acute.

4. (of the senses) keen. acute hearing.

5. high, shrill s high sound.

acute angle

an angle of less than ninety degrees.

aˈcutely adverb

aˈcuteness noun

a·cute

a. agudo-a punzante;

___-care-center → centro-de-emergencia;

___ care facility → centro de cuidado crítico;

an ___ pain → un dolor ___;

___ly ill → gravemente enfermo-a.

acute

adj agudo

References in classic literature ?

But a wise ordinance of Nature has decreed that, in proportion as the working-classes increase in intelligence, knowledge, and all virtue, in that same proportion their acute angle (which makes them physically terrible) shall increase also and approximate to the comparatively harmless angle of the Equilateral Triangle.

View in context

Thus it would follow, as the result of acute consciousness, that one is not to blame in being a scoundrel; as though that were any consolation to the scoundrel once he has come to realise that he actually is a scoundrel.

View in context

These are distinguished according to the form assumed by the mouth and the place where they are produced; according as they are aspirated or smooth, long or short; as they are acute, grave, or of an intermediate tone; which inquiry belongs in detail to the writers on metre.

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Her feelings are tolerably acute, and she is so charmingly artless in their display as to afford the most reasonable hope of her being ridiculous, and despised by every man who sees her.

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His enthusiasm was sincere and his criticism acute. He was catholic.

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At night, one could distinguish nothing of all that mass of buildings, except the black indentation of the roofs, unrolling their chain of acute angles round the place; for one of the radical differences between the cities of that time, and the cities of the present day, lay in the façades which looked upon the places and streets, and which were then gables.

View in context

After four days of solitude, ennui, and consciousness of his impotence and insignificance- particularly acute by contrast with the sphere of power in which he had so lately moved- and after several marches with the marshal's baggage and the French army, which occupied the whole district, Balashev was brought to Vilna- now occupied by the French- through the very gate by which he had left it four days previously.

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That would be in a couple of hours, at the end of which-- I had the acute prevision--my little pupils would play at innocent wonder about my nonappearance in their train.

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Moralists will be glad to hear that I really suffered acute mental misery at this time of my life.

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Whether it was that the children were fickle, or that they had acute senses, and felt that Anna was quite different that day from what she had been when they had taken such a fancy to her, that she was not now interested in them,--but they had abruptly dropped their play with their aunt, and their love for her, and were quite indifferent that she was going away.

View in context

She was not going through any acute mental process or reasoning with herself, nor was she striving to explain to her satisfaction the motive of her action.

View in context

Elton should not be really in love with her, or so particularly amiable as to make it shocking to disappoint himthat Harriet's nature should not be of that superior sort in which the feelings are most acute and retentive and that there could be no necessity for any body's knowing what had passed except the three principals, and especially for her father's being given a moment's uneasiness about it.