Acute, a.
Etymology: [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.
3 more senses
5. (Med.)
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.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Acute, v. t.
To give an acute sound to; as, he acutes his rising inflection too much. [R.] Walker.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for acute; he lists it under astute, sagacious.
Where he writes about it:
Acute, from the Latin, suggests the sharpness of the needle's point; keen, from the Saxon, the sharpness of the cutting edge. — from astute
Astute, from the Latin, with the original sense of cunning has come to have a meaning that combines the sense of acute or keen with that of sagacious. — from astute
The acute, keen intellect may take no special advantage of these qualities; the astute mind has always a point to make for itself, and seldom fails to make it. — from astute