keen

sharp, keen, acute mean having or showing alert competence and clear understanding. sharp implies quick perception, clever resourcefulness, or sometimes questionable trickiness.

• • sharp enough to spot a confidence game

keen suggests quickness, enthusiasm, and a penetrating mind.

• • a keen observer of the political scene

acute implies a power to penetrate and may suggest subtlety and sharpness of discrimination.

• • an acute sense of style

eager, avid, keen, anxious, athirst mean moved by a strong and urgent desire or interest. eager implies ardor and enthusiasm and sometimes impatience at delay or restraint.

• • eager to get started

avid adds to eager the implication of insatiability or greed.

• • avid for new thrills

keen suggests intensity of interest and quick responsiveness in action.

• • keen on the latest fashions

anxious emphasizes fear of frustration or failure or disappointment.

• • anxious not to make a social blunder

athirst stresses yearning but not necessarily readiness for action.

• • athirst for adventure