acute

adjective

\ə-ˈkyüt

acuter; acutest

Definition of acute

1a(1) : characterized by sharpness or severity of sudden onset acute pain

(2) : having a sudden onset, sharp rise, and short course acute illness

(3) : being, providing, or requiring short-term medical care (as for serious illness or traumatic injury) acute hospitals an acute patient

b : lasting a short time acute experiments

2 : ending in a sharp point: such as

a : being or forming an angle measuring less than 90 degrees an acute angle

b : composed of acute angles an acute triangle

3a of an accent mark : having the form ´

b : marked with an acute accent

c : of the variety indicated by an acute accent

4a : marked by keen discernment or intellectual perception especially of subtle distinctions an acute thinker

b : responsive to slight impressions or stimuli acute hearing

5 : felt, perceived, or experienced intensely acute distress

6 : demanding urgent attention an acute emergency

Other Words from acute Synonyms & Antonyms Choose the Right Synonym Ways to Be Acute More Example Sentences Learn More about acute

Keep scrolling for more

Choose the Right Synonym for acute

acute, critical, crucial mean of uncertain outcome. acute stresses intensification of conditions leading to a culmination or breaking point. an acute housing shortage critical adds to acute implications of imminent change, of attendant suspense, and of decisiveness in the outcome. the war has entered a critical phase crucial suggests a dividing of the ways and often a test or trial involving the determination of a future course or direction. a crucial vote

synonyms see in addition sharp

Ways to Be Acute

For such a short and simple-looking word, acute has a rather bewildering range of meanings. It first entered the English language with a medical sense, referring to the sharpness or severity of a symptom. It retains this meaning today, but can also refer to the severity of more general matters, such as "acute embarrassment" or "an acute shortage."

Acute is also frequently used to describe less troublesome matters, such as keenness of perception ("an acute observer" or "an acute sense of smell"), a type of angle (one measuring less than 90 degrees), or the demand for urgent attention ("acute danger").

Examples of acute in a Sentence

an acute sense of humor It's a politically acute film that does not oversimplify the issues.

Recent Examples on the Web

The need for such approaches is especially acute today, as fentanyls, a class of synthetic opioids, slowly overtake heroin in the illicit market. — German Lopez, Vox, "A big, new review of the evidence finds that prescription heroin works," 6 Dec. 2018 The problem is especially acute in King County and counties to the north, where the overall number of nights in hotels was more than 1,000 between September 2017 and August 2018. — Scott Greenstone, The Seattle Times, "With shortage of foster parents, Washington has almost tenfold increase in hotel stays for foster kids," 27 Nov. 2018 This is particularly acute among young people of color in areas lacking government and social investment. — Rachel Anspach, Teen Vogue, "Trump's Policies Are Increasing Teen Stress and Eroding Mental Health," 12 Nov. 2018 Potential symptoms range from headaches and fever to, in severe cases, acute respiratory failure or even death. — New York Times, "Freed From Thai Cave, Boys May Still Face Health Problems," 10 July 2018 Save the Children based its figures on mortality rates for untreated cases of severe acute malnutrition, or SAM, in young children. — Samy Magdy, The Seattle Times, "Aid group: 85,000 children may have died of hunger in Yemen," 21 Nov. 2018 At least half of all children under five years of age — about 770,000 of them — in that region are suffering from acute malnutrition, including 400,000 young people who are severely malnourished and at risk of death. — Nick Turse, Teen Vogue, "The Democratic Republic of Congo Has Humanitarian Crises Leaving Millions of Children In Danger," 14 Nov. 2018 This may be particularly acute for women at the start of their careers, when their track records are shortest—and for women of color, who are up against both gender and racial bias. — Sheryl Sandberg, WSJ, "Sheryl Sandberg: Progress for Women Isn’t Just Slow—It’s Stalled," 23 Oct. 2018 This concern is particularly acute with virtual machines: if two virtual machines share a physical core, then the virtual machine using one logical core can potentially spy on the virtual machine using the other logical core. — Peter Bright, Ars Technica, "Intel’s SGX blown wide open by, you guessed it, a speculative execution attack," 14 Aug. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'acute.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for acute

Middle English, borrowed from Latin acūtus "sharpened, pointed, having a violent onset, discerning, less than 90 degrees (of an angle)," from past participle of acuere "to sharpen, rouse, stimulate," probably derived from an otherwise unattested adjective stem acū- "sharp"; akin to acū-, acus "needle," a perhaps independently derived noun; further akin to Old Church Slavic osŭtŭ "thistle," Lithuanian ãšutas "hair of a horse's tail or mane"; all going back to the Indo-European base *h₂eḱ- "sharp" — more at edge entry 1