acute | ||
1. | [ adjective ] (medicine) having or experiencing a rapid onset and short but severe course | |
Examples: | "acute appendicitis" "the acute phase of the illness" "acute patients |
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Related terms: | chronic medicine subacute | |
2. | [ adjective ] extremely sharp or intense | |
Synonyms: | intense | |
Examples: | "acute pain" "felt acute annoyance" "intense itching and burning" |
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Related terms: | sharp | |
3. | [ adjective ] having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions | |
Synonyms: | sharp keen incisive penetrating knifelike piercing penetrative discriminating | |
Examples: | "an acute observer of politics and politicians" "incisive comments" "icy knifelike reasoning" "as sharp and incisive as the stroke of a fang" "penetrating insight" |
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Related terms: | perceptive | |
4. | [ adjective ] ending in a sharp point | |
Synonyms: | sharp needlelike acuate | |
Related terms: | pointed | |
5. | [ adjective ] ending in a sharp point | |
Synonyms: | sharp acuate | |
Related terms: | pointed | |
6. | [ adjective ] of an angle; less than 90 degrees | |
Related terms: | obtuse | |
7. | [ adjective ] of critical importance and consequence | |
Examples: | "an acute (or critical) lack of research funds" |
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Related terms: | critical | |
8. | [ noun ] a mark (') placed above a vowel to indicate pronunciation | |
Synonyms: | ague acute_accent | |
Related terms: | accent | |
Similar spelling: |
act acuate Actaea acquit ACTH Aceuedo Aceto Acedo Acheta acedia accede Accetta |