ACUTE
Dictionary entry overview: What does acute mean?
• ACUTE (noun)
The noun ACUTE has 1 sense:
1. a mark (') placed above a vowel to indicate pronunciation
Familiarity information: ACUTE used as a noun is very rare.
• ACUTE (adjective)
The adjective ACUTE has 6 senses:
1. having or experiencing a rapid onset and short but severe course
2. extremely sharp or intense
3. having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions
4. of an angle; less than 90 degrees
5. ending in a sharp point
6. of critical importance and consequence
Familiarity information: ACUTE used as an adjective is common.
Dictionary entry details
• ACUTE (noun)
Meaning:
A mark (') placed above a vowel to indicate pronunciation
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Synonyms:
acute; acute accent; ague
Hypernyms ("acute" is a kind of...):
accent; accent mark (a diacritical mark used to indicate stress or placed above a vowel to indicate a special pronunciation)
• ACUTE (adjective)
Meaning:
Having or experiencing a rapid onset and short but severe course
Context examples:
acute appendicitis / the acute phase of the illness / acute patients
Similar:
subacute (less than acute; relating to a disease present in a person with no symptoms of it)
Domain category:
medical specialty; medicine (the branches of medical science that deal with nonsurgical techniques)
Antonym:
chronic (being long-lasting and recurrent or characterized by long suffering)
Meaning:
Extremely sharp or intense
Synonyms:
intense; acute
Context examples:
acute pain / felt acute annoyance / intense itching and burning
Similar:
sharp (keenly and painfully felt; as if caused by a sharp edge or point)
Meaning:
Having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions
Synonyms:
piercing; penetrative; penetrating; keen; incisive; knifelike; discriminating; acute; sharp
Context 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 / frequent penetrative observations
Similar:
perceptive (having the ability to perceive or understand; keen in discernment)
Meaning:
Of an angle; less than 90 degrees
Antonym:
obtuse (of an angle; between 90 and 180 degrees)
Meaning:
Ending in a sharp point
Synonyms:
needlelike; acuate; sharp; acute
Similar:
pointed (having a point)
Meaning:
Of critical importance and consequence
Context example:
an acute (or critical) lack of research funds
Similar:
critical (being in or verging on a state of crisis or emergency)
