★
adjective, noun.
adj. 1. acting keenly on the senses; sharp and severe.
△Ex. A toothache can cause acute pain.
(SYN) intense.
2. coming quickly to a turning point; brief and severe.
△Ex. An acute disease like pneumonia reaches a crisis within a short time.
3. threatening; critical.
△Ex. The long drought caused an acute shortage of water in the city.
(SYN) crucial.
4. (Figurative.) quick in perceiving and responding to impressions; keen; sharp.
△Ex. an acute observer. Dogs have an acute sense of smell.
5. (Figurative.) quick in discernment; having power to perceive small differences or effects; sharp-witted; shrewd.
△Ex. an acute thinker.
(SYN) clever.
6. high in pitch; shrill.
△Ex. Some sounds are so acute that we cannot hear them.
7. having or ending in a sharp point.
(SYN) pointed.
8. having an acute accent over it.
9
a. less than a right angle.
b. having one or more acute angles.
noun an acute accent.
adv. acutely.
noun acuteness.