acute

(ə-kyūt')
adj.

1. Having a sharp point or tip.
2. Keenly perceptive or discerning: "a raw, chilling and psychologically acute novel of human passions reduced to their deadliest essence" (Literary Guild Magazine). See synonyms at sharp.
3. Reacting readily to stimuli or impressions; sensitive: His hearing was unusually acute.
4. Of great importance or consequence; crucial: an acute lack of research funds.
5. Extremely sharp or severe; intense: acute pain; acute relief.
6. Medicine.
   1. Having a rapid onset and following a short but severe course: acute disease.
   2. Afflicted by a disease exhibiting a rapid onset followed by a short, severe course: acute patients.
7. Music. High in pitch; shrill.
8. Geometry. Having an acute angle: an acute triangle.

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

acutely a·cute'ly adv.
acuteness a·cute'ness n.

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adjective

1. Having an end that tapers to a point: acicular, aciculate, aciculated, acuminate, cuspate, cuspated, cuspidate, cuspidated, mucronate, pointed, pointy, sharp. See sharp/dull.
2. Possessing or displaying perceptions of great accuracy and sensitivity: incisive, keen, penetrating, perceptive, probing, sensitive, sharp, trenchant. See careful/careless, sharp/dull.
3. So serious as to be at the point of crisis or necessary to resolve a crisis: climacteric, critical, crucial, desperate, dire. See safety/danger.
4. Marked by severity or intensity: gnawing, knifelike, lancinating, piercing, sharp, shooting, stabbing. See big/small/amount.
5. Elevated in pitch: high, high-pitched, piercing, piping, shrieky, shrill, shrilly, treble. See high/low, sounds/pleasant sounds/unpleasant sounds/neutral sounds or silence.

adj

Definition: deeply perceptive
Antonyms: dense, imperceptive, insensitive, obtuse, slow, stupid

adj

Definition: having a sharp end or point
Antonyms: blunt, dull

adj

Definition: very important
Antonyms: not serious, unimportant

Applied to a condition that develops rapidly and which is usually of brief duration.

Tapering to a point. Usually used to describe leaves.

IN BRIEF: n. - The quality of having a sharp edge or point; A quick and penetrating intelligence; A sensitivity that is keen and highly developed.

By acuteness of feeling, we perceive small objects or slight impressions: by acuteness of intellect, we discern nice distinctions. — http://www.babylon.com/definition/acuteness/English

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1. brief.
2. common usage is ‘having severe signs and a short course of 12 to 24 hours’. See also under organ (e.g. pancreatitis), system (e.g. respiratory), causative agent (e.g. arsenic) or lesion (e.g. myonecrosis).

• a. bovine pulmonary emphysema-edema — see atypical interstitial pneumonia.
• a. care — see secondary health care.
• a. death syndrome of chickens — sudden death, for no apparent reason, in 2 to 3 week old broiler chicks; clinical signs of falling, wing flapping and convulsions may occur for about a minute before death.
• a. phase response — the rapid change in composition of certain plasma proteins, largely due to alteration in hepatic synthesis, in response to infection or inflammation. Although the purpose is not well understood, these changes are believed to assist in immune response. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) is a laboratory indicator of the acute phase response. See also c-reactive protein and tumor necrosis factor.
• a. physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE) — see apache system.
• a. respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) — see acute respiratory distress syndrome.

adj

Pertaining to a traumatic, pathologic, or physiologic phenomenon or process having a short and relatively severe course. Antonym: chronic.

For a list of words related to acute, see:

• Diagnostic Terminology - acute: (adj) designating disease with rapid onset, severe symptoms, and brief duration, opposite of chronic
• Intelligent, Informed, Clever, or Articulate
• Shapes - acute: (adj) of an angle of less than ninety degrees

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See words rhyming with "acute."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Acute.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - akut, kritisk, alvorlig
n. - accent aigu

idioms:

• acute accent    accent aigu
• acute angle    spids vinkel
• acute angled    spids vinklet

Nederlands (Dutch)
acuut, schril, scherp (hoek), scherpzinnig, kritiek (ernstig)

Français (French)
adj. - aigu, vif, perspicace, sagace, pénétrant, avisé, (Méd) aigu, (fig) vif, critique, grave, (Math) aigu (un angle), (Ling) aigu (un accent)
n. - (Math) angle aigu, (Ling) accent aigu

idioms:

• acute accent    accent aigu
• acute angle    angle aigu
• acute angled    acutangle

Deutsch (German)
adj. - spitz, scharf, heftig, akut, kritisch, scharfsichtig, scharfsinnig, durchdringend
n. - Akut

idioms:

• acute accent    (ling.) Akut, Akut, Accent aigu
• acute angle    spitzer Winkel
• acute angled    spitzwinkelig

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - οξύς, σουβλερός, αιχμηρός, μυτερός, έντονος, διαπεραστικός, δριμύς, οξύνους, έξυπνος, σοβαρός, κρίσιμος

idioms:

• acute accent    (γραμμ.) οξεία
• acute angle    οξεία γωνία
• acute angled    οξυγώνιος

Italiano (Italian)
acuto, aguzzo

idioms:

• acute accent    accento acuto
• acute angled    angolo acuto

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - agudo, perspicaz
n. - agudo (m) (Mús.)

idioms:

• acute accent    acento agudo (Gram.)
• acute angled    ângulo agudo (Geom.)

Русский (Russian)
резкий, острый, внезапный, обладающий острым умом

idioms:

• acute accent    акут
• acute angled    остроугольный

Español (Spanish)
adj. - agudo, grave, perspicaz
n. - agudo, grave, perspicaz

idioms:

• acute accent    acento agudo
• acute angle    ángulo agudo
• acute angled    acutángulo

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - spetsig, häftig, gäll, fyndig

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
尖锐的, 剧烈的, 激烈的, 敏锐的, 严重的, 尖音符, 尖重音

idioms:

• acute accent    尖音符, 尖重音, 英文中的重音符号
• acute angle    锐角
• acute angled    锐角, 锐角三角形

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 尖銳的, 劇烈的, 激烈的, 敏銳的, 嚴重的
n. - 尖音符, 尖重音

idioms:

• acute accent    尖音符, 尖重音, 英文中的重音符號
• acute angle    銳角
• acute angled    銳角, 銳角三角形

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 날카로운, 격렬한, 급성의
n. - 날카로움, 격렬

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 鋭い, 激しい, 急性の, 深刻な, 重大な, 鋭角の

idioms:

• acute accent    鋭アクセント符号
• acute angled    鋭角の

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) شديد, حاد, قاس, , مبرح (الاسم) اشارة على بعض الحروف في اللغه الفرنسيه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮חד, חריף, רציני, חמור‬
n. - ‮הסימן ' הנכתב במספר שפות מעל אותיות כדי לסמן אורך תנועה, אופן ביטוי ועוד‬

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