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acute - 20 thesaurus results
| Main Entry: | acute |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | deeply perceptive |
| Synonyms: | astute, canny, clever, discerning, discriminating, incisive, ingenious, insightful, intense, intuitive, judicious, keen, observant, penetrating, perspicacious, piercing, quick-witted, sensitive, sharp, smart, subtle |
| Notes: | acute is used for a sudden onset and short duration; chronic is for conditions that are slow to develop and of long duration acute is an angle of less than 90 degrees; obtuse is one of more than 90 degrees chronic is contrasted with acute as chronic pain persists over a longer period of time than acute pain and is resistant to most medical treatments |
| Antonyms: | dense, insensitive, obtuse, slow, stupid, imperceptive |
| Main Entry: | acute |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | very important |
| Synonyms: | critical, crucial, dangerous, decisive, desperate, dire, essential, grave, serious, severe, sudden, urgent, vital, afflictive |
| Antonyms: | unimportant, not serious |
| Main Entry: | acute |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | severe, intense |
| Synonyms: | cutting, distressing, excruciating, exquisite, fierce, keen, overpowering, overwhelming, piercing, poignant, powerful, severe, sharp, shooting, sudden, violent, racking, stabbing |
| Main Entry: | acute |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | having a sharp end or point |
| Synonyms: | peaked, pointed, spiked, acicular, aciculate, acuminate, acuminous, cuspate, cuspidate, knifelike, needle-shaped, piked, sharpened |
| Antonyms: | blunt, dull |
| Main Entry: | agile |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | physically or mentally nimble, deft |
| Synonyms: | active, acute, alert, athletic, brisk, buoyant, clever, dexterous, energetic, fleet, frisky, limber, lithe, lively, mercurial, prompt, quick, quick-witted, rapid, ready, sharp, spirited, sportive, sprightly, spry, stirring, supple, swift, vigorous, vivacious, winged, zippy, bustling, easy-moving, quick on the draw, quick on the trigger, spright, twinkle toes |
| Antonyms: | brittle, clumsy, stiff |
| Main Entry: | canny |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | clever, artful |
| Synonyms: | able, acute, adroit, astute, cagey, careful, cautious, circumspect, cunning, dexterous, discreet, foxy*, frugal, ingenious, intelligent, judicious, knowing, perspicacious, prudent, quick, quick-witted, sagacious, shrewd, skillful, slick, slippery*, sly, smart, smooth*, street smart*, subtle, wary, watchful, wise, with it*, worldly-wise, having fancy footwork, hep, nimble-witted, streetwise |
| Antonyms: | foolish, inept, silly |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | climactic/climacteric |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | decisive |
| Synonyms: | acute, critical, crucial, desperate, dire, paramount, peak, climactical |
| Antonyms: | indecisive, trivial, undecided, anticlimacteric, anticlimactic, bathetic |
| Main Entry: | crucial |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | critical, important |
| Synonyms: | acute, central, clamorous, compelling, deciding, decisive, desperate, dire, essential, imperative, insistent, momentous, necessary, pivotal, pressing, searching, showdown*, touchy, urgent, vital, climacteric, climatic, hanging by thread, high-priority, on thin ice, touch and go |
| Antonyms: | trivial, uncritical, unimportant, inessential |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | dexterous |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | ingenious, proficient |
| Synonyms: | able, active, acute, adept, adroit, agile, apt, artful, canny, clever, crack*, crackerjack*, deft, effortless, expert, facile, handy, masterly, neat, nimble, prompt, quick, savvy, skilled, skillful, slick, sly, smooth, having the know-how, nimble-fingered |
| Antonyms: | awkward, clumsy, inept, inexpert, unable, unskilled, unhandy |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | discerning |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | discriminating |
| Synonyms: | acute, astute, bright, brilliant, clever, critical, ingenious, insightful, intelligent, judicious, knowing, knowledgeable, penetrating, perceptive, perspicacious, piercing, sagacious, sage, sensitive, sharp, shrewd, subtle, wise, clear-sighted, gnostic, insighted, percipient |
| Antonyms: | neglectful, negligent, disregardful, overlooking, undiscerning, undiscriminating |
| Main Entry: | discriminating |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | critical |
| Synonyms: | acute, astute, careful, choosy, discerning, distinctive, eclectic, fastidious, finicky, fussy, judicious, keen, opinionated, particular, persnickety*, picky, prudent, refined, select, selective, sensitive, tasteful, wise, choicy, cultivated, finical, individualizing |
| Antonyms: | uncritical, undiscriminating |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | excruciating |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | torturous, painful |
| Synonyms: | acute, agonizing, burning, consuming, exquisite, extreme, grueling, harrowing, insufferable, intense, piercing, punishing, severe, sharp, shooting, unbearable, violent, chastening, racking, rending, searing, stabbing, tearing, tormenting, torturesome, torturing, unendurable |
| Antonyms: | bearable, endurable, helpful, pleasant, pleasing, soothing |
| Main Entry: | far-sighted |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | looking ahead wisely |
| Synonyms: | acute, canny, cautious, clairvoyant, discerning, judicious, levelheaded, perceptive, politic, prescient, provident, prudent, sagacious, sage, shrewd, well-balanced, wise, commonsensical, cool-headed |
| Antonyms: | incautious, rash, shortsighted, unthinking, unwise, uncareful |
| Main Entry: | intelligent |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | very smart |
| Synonyms: | able, acute, alert, alive, apt, astute, brainy*, bright, brilliant, calculating, capable, clever, creative, deep*, discerning, enlightened, exceptional, highbrow*, imaginative, ingenious, instructed, inventive, keen, knowing, knowledgeable, original, penetrating, perceptive, perspicacious, profound, quick, quick-witted, rational, ready, reasonable, resourceful, responsible, sage, sharp, smart, thinking, together*, understanding, well-informed, whiz*, wise, witty, all there, comprehending |
| Antonyms: | foolish, idiotic, imbecile, stupid, unintelligent |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | intense |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | forceful, severe; passionate |
| Synonyms: | acute, agonizing, ardent, biting, bitter, burning, close, concentrated, consuming, cutting, deep, diligent, eager, earnest, energetic, exaggerated, exceptional, excessive, exquisite, extraordinary, extreme, fanatical, fervent, fervid, fierce, forcible, full, great, hard, harsh, impassioned, intensive, keen, marked, piercing, powerful, profound, pungent, sharp, shrill, stinging, strained, strong, supreme, undue, vehement, violent, vivid, zealous, all-consuming, heightened, intensified, protracted |
| Antonyms: | calm, dull, low-key, mild, moderate |
| Main Entry: | judicious |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | wise, thoughtful |
| Synonyms: | accurate, acute, astute, calculating, careful, cautious, circumspect, considerate, considered, diplomatic, discerning, discreet, discriminating, efficacious, enlightened, expedient, far-sighted, informed, judicial, keen, perceptive, perspicacious, politic, profound, prudent, quick-witted, rational, reasonable, sagacious, sage, sane, sapient, seasonable, seemly, sensible, sharp, shrewd, skillful, sober, sophisticated, sound, thorough, wary, well-advised, worldly-wise, clear-sighted, well-judged |
| Antonyms: | foolish, hasty, idiotic, injudicious, irrational, nonsensical, reckless, senseless, thoughtless, unwise |
| Main Entry: | perceptive |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | alert, sensitive |
| Synonyms: | acute, astute, awake, aware, brainy*, conscious, discerning, discreet, ear to the ground, gnostic, incisive, insighted, insightful, intuitive, judicious, keen, knowing, knowledgeable, knows what's what, observant, penetrating, penetrative, percipient, perspicacious, quick, rational, responsive, sagacious, sage, savvy*, sharp, sophic, tuned in, wise, wise to |
| Antonyms: | dense, insensitive, unaware, unobservant |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | perspicacious |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | observant, perceptive |
| Synonyms: | acute, alert, astute, aware, clever, discerning, heady*, judicious, keen, penetrating, sagacious, savvy*, sharp, sharp-witted, shrewd, clear-sighted, percipient |
| Antonyms: | ignorant, unobservant, unperceptive |
* = informal/non-formal usage
| Main Entry: | piercing |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | intense to the senses |
| Synonyms: | acute, agonizing, arctic, biting, bitter, cold, deafening, earsplitting, excruciating, exquisite, fierce, freezing, frosty, high, high-pitched, keen, loud, painful, penetrating, powerful, raw, severe, sharp, shooting, shrill, stentorian, thin, wintry, blaring, knifelike, numbing, racking, roaring, shattering, stabbing, stentorious, treble |
| Antonyms: | low, soft, weak |
| Main Entry: | pressing |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | important; urgent |
| Synonyms: | acute, burning, clamant, clamorous, compelling, critical, crucial, crying, demanding, dire, distressing, exacting, exigent, immediate, imperative, importunate, insistent, instant, life-and-death*, obliging, requiring, serious, vital, claiming, constraining, forcing, heat-on, high-priority, hurry-up |
| Antonyms: | insignificant, trivial, unimportant |
* = informal/non-formal usage
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition
Copyright © 2009 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition
Copyright © 2009 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
