ACUTE: Synonyms and Related Words. What is Another Word for ACUTE?

Need another word that means the same as “acute”? Find 75 synonyms and 30 related words for “acute” in this overview.

The synonyms of “Acute” are: intense, discriminating, incisive, keen, knifelike, penetrating, penetrative, piercing, sharp, acuate, needlelike, severe, critical, drastic, dire, dreadful, terrible, awful, grave, bad, serious, profound, stabbing, shooting, racking, searing, burning, consuming, astute, shrewd, razor-sharp, quick, quick-witted, agile, nimble, ingenious, clever, intelligent, bright, brilliant, smart, canny, intuitive, discerning, perceptive, perspicacious, insightful, sagacious, wise, judicious, good, sensitive, subtle, spearlike, v-shaped, tapering, tapered, cone-shaped, conic, conical, sharp-cornered, wedge-shaped, edged, jagged, spiky, spiked, barbed, high, soprano, treble, falsetto, shrill, piping, acute accent, ague

Acute as a Noun

Definitions of "Acute" as a noun

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “acute” as a noun can have the following definitions:

• A mark (') placed above a vowel to indicate pronunciation.
• A mark placed above a vowel to indicate pronunciation.

Synonyms of "Acute" as a noun (2 Words)

acute accent	A mark (‘) placed above a vowel to indicate pronunciation.
ague	A mark (‘) placed above a vowel to indicate pronunciation.

Acute as an Adjective

Definitions of "Acute" as an adjective

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “acute” as an adjective can have the following definitions:

• (of a disease or its symptoms) severe but of short duration.
• Of an angle; less than 90 degrees.
• Denoting or designed for patients with an acute form of a disease.
• Extremely sharp or severe.
• Having a sharp end; pointed.
• Having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions.
• (of an angle) less than 90°.
• Extremely sharp or intense.
• Having or showing a perceptive understanding or insight; shrewd.
• Having or experiencing a rapid onset and short but severe course.
• (of a physical sense or faculty) highly developed; keen.
• Of critical importance and consequence.
• (of a sound) high; shrill.
• Ending in a sharp point.
• (of an unpleasant or unwelcome situation or phenomenon) present or experienced to a severe or intense degree.

Synonyms of "Acute" as an adjective (73 Words)

acuate	Sharp, pointed; needle-like.
agile	Able to think and understand quickly. An agile mind.
astute	Having or showing an ability to accurately assess situations or people and turn this to one’s advantage. An astute tenant always reads the small print in a lease.
awful	Inspired by a feeling of fearful wonderment or reverence. I felt awful for being so angry with him.
bad	Feeling physical discomfort or pain tough is occasionally used colloquially for bad. Everything in the fridge went bad.
barbed	Having a barb or barbs. A fair degree of barbed wit.
bright	Made smooth and bright by or as if by rubbing reflecting a sheen or glow. The bright sound of the trumpet section.
brilliant	Clear and sharp and ringing. The brilliant sound of the trumpets.
burning	Of immediate import. A burning building.
canny	Pleasant; nice. Canny investors will switch banks if they think they are getting a raw deal.
clever	Skilled at doing or achieving something; talented. You are a clever man you reason well and your wit is bold.
cone-shaped	Relating to or resembling a cone.
conic	Of a cone. Conical mountains.
conical	Relating to or resembling a cone. Conical mountains.
consuming	(of a feeling) completely filling one’s mind and attention; absorbing. Politics is his consuming passion.
critical	Marked by a tendency to find and call attention to errors and flaws. Professors often find it difficult to encourage critical thinking amongst their students.
dire	Fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless- G.C.Marshall. The concert was dire.
discerning	Having or revealing keen insight and good judgment. The brasserie attracts discerning customers.
discriminating	Having or showing refined taste or good judgement. The discriminating eye of the connoisseur.
drastic	Forceful and extreme and rigorous. Drastic measures.
dreadful	Causing or involving great suffering, fear, or unhappiness; extremely bad or serious. She looked quite dreadful and she was struggling for breath.
edged	Having a cutting edge or especially an edge or edges as specified; often used in combination. Dried sweat left salt edged patches.
falsetto	Artificially high; above the normal voice range. A falsetto voice.
good	Useful, advantageous, or beneficial in effect. A good mechanic.
grave	Causing fear or anxiety by threatening great harm. Faced a grave decision in a time of crisis.
high	Used of sounds and voices high in pitch or frequency. The high priest.
incisive	Suitable for cutting or piercing. She was an incisive critic.
ingenious	Showing inventiveness and skill. An ingenious solution to the problem.
insightful	Exhibiting insight or clear and deep perception-R.C.Angell. Thank you for all the insightful comments.
intelligent	Endowed with the capacity to reason. An intelligent question.
intense	Extremely sharp or intense. An intense young woman passionate about her art.
intuitive	(chiefly of computer software) easy to use and understand. His intuitive understanding of the readers real needs.
jagged	Having a sharply uneven surface or outline. The jagged outline of the crags.
judicious	Having, showing, or done with good judgement or sense. Judicious use of one s money.
keen	(of a sense) highly developed. Bob makes it obvious he s keen on her.
knifelike	Cutting or able to cut as if with a knife. A narrow knifelike profile.
needlelike	Ending in a sharp point.
nimble	(of the mind) able to think and understand quickly. Nimble wits.
penetrating	(of a sound) clearly heard through or above other sounds. The students asked some penetrating questions.
penetrative	Able to make a way into or through something. Frequent penetrative observations.
perceptive	Having or showing sensitive insight. An extraordinarily perceptive account of their relationship.
perspicacious	Acutely insightful and wise. It offers quite a few facts to the perspicacious reporter.
piercing	Painful as if caused by a sharp instrument. She let out a piercing scream.
piping	High-pitched. The piping voice of a little girl.
profound	Coming from deep within one. Expressing profound truths in simple language.
quick	Moving quickly and lightly. Was quick to make friends.
quick-witted	Mentally nimble and resourceful.
racking	Causing great physical or mental suffering.
razor-sharp	Very clearly delineated.
sagacious	Having or showing keen mental discernment and good judgement; wise or shrewd. An astute and sagacious statesman.
searing	Severely critical. A searing indictment of the government s performance.
sensitive	(of a market) unstable and liable to quick changes of price because of outside influences. A sensitive voltmeter.
serious	Significant or worrying because of possible danger or risk; not slight or negligible. Marriage is a serious matter.
severe	Severely simple. The charges would have warranted a severe sentence.
sharp	Ending in a sharp point. Keep tools sharp.
sharp-cornered	Having sharp corners.
shooting	(of a pain) sudden and piercing. I often feel a shooting pain at the end of my left arm.
shrewd	Mischievous; malicious. A shrewd career move.
shrill	Of colors that are bright and gaudy. Shrill criticism.
smart	(of an object) bright and fresh in appearance. A smart blue skirt.
soprano	Having or denoting a high range. Soprano sax.
spearlike	Long and narrow with a sharp pointed end. Long spearlike leaves.
spiked	Having a long sharp point.
spiky	Having or as if having especially high-pitched spots. His hair was dark and spiky.
stabbing	(of a pain or sensation) sharp and sudden. A stabbing remark.
subtle	Arranged in an ingenious and elaborate way. The subtle fiend dissembled.
tapered	Becoming gradually narrower. Trousers with tapered legs.
tapering	Gradually decreasing until little remains. The five tapering fingers of her hand.
terrible	Causing or likely to cause terror; sinister. What a terrible mess.
treble	Three times as great or many. The boy still had a fine treble voice.
v-shaped	Shaped in the form of the letter V.
wedge-shaped	Narrowly triangular, wider at the apex and tapering toward the base.
wise	Sensible or prudent. She seems kind and wise.

Usage Examples of "Acute" as an adjective

• An acute observer of politics and politicians.
• Acute appendicitis.
• The problem is acute and getting worse.
• Acute pain.
• An acute (or critical) lack of research funds.
• An acute sense of smell.
• The acute phase of the illness.
• An acute ward.
• Felt acute annoyance.
• An acute awareness of changing fashions.
• An acute housing shortage.
• Acute patients.

Associations of "Acute" (30 Words)

acerbic	Sour or bitter in taste. His acerbic wit.
acrid	Harsh or corrosive in tone. An acrid smell.
acuity	A quick and penetrating intelligence. Intellectual acuity.
acutely	In an acute manner. Acutely aware.
biting	Causing a sharply painful or stinging sensation; used especially of cold. A cream to ward off biting insects.
discriminating	Having or showing refined taste or good judgement. He became a discriminating collector and patron of the arts.
extreme	The highest or most extreme degree of something. An extreme conservative.
fang	Canine tooth of a carnivorous animal; used to seize and tear its prey. The dog was bounding towards him its fangs bared.
frenzied	Affected with or marked by frenzy or mania uncontrolled by reason- H.W.Carter. A frenzied attack.
incisive	Suitable for cutting or piercing. The songs offer incisive pictures of American ways.
intense	Extremely sharp or intense. Intense itching and burning.
keen	Having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions. Bob makes it obvious he s keen on her.
keenness	A quick and penetrating intelligence. I admired the keenness of his mind.
manic	Frantically busy; hectic. Outbursts of drunken violence and manic activity and creativity.
penetrating	(of a person’s eyes or expression) reflecting an apparent ability to see into another’s mind; intense. Penetrating insight.
perceptive	Having the ability to perceive or understand; keen in discernment. A perceptive observation.
piercing	(of a feeling) intense, typically in a distressing way. Piercing knifelike pains.
piquant	Attracting or delighting. A piquant tartare sauce.
pointed	Having a sharpened or tapered tip or end. A pointed critique.
pungent	Having a sharply strong taste or smell. The pungent taste of radishes.
scalpel	A thin straight surgical knife used in dissection and surgery.
scissors	Denoting an action in which two things cross each other or open and close like the blades of a pair of scissors. A dummy scissors from David Thomas deceived the opposition.
severe	Severely simple. The house suffered severe damage.
sharp	Of a key having a sharp or sharps in the signature. They were greeted by a young man in a sharp suit.
sharply	In a well delineated manner. Housing values have risen sharply.
shrewd	Used of persons. He was too shrewd to go along with them on a road that could lead only to their overthrow.
shrill	Make a shrill noise. A shrill gaiety.
sickle	A short-handled farming tool with a semicircular blade, used for cutting corn, lopping, or trimming.
thorny	Bristling with perplexities. Tangled thorny branches.
ultimate	A final or fundamental fact or principle. The ultimate constituents of anything that exists are atoms.