Acute Meaning
/əˈkjuːt/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjBrief, quick, short.
adjHigh or shrill.
Sentence Examples
This city will suffer from an acute water shortage unless it rains soon.
I have an acute pain here.
There is an acute shortage of water.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The patient was admitted to the hospital due to an ____ pain in his lower abdomen that required immediate attention.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The patient was suffering from an ____ respiratory infection.
Word Origin & History
From Late Middle English acute (“of a disease or fever: starting suddenly and lasting for a short time; of a humour: irritating, sharp”), from Latin acūta, from acūtus (“sharp, sharpened”), perfect passive participle of acuō (“to make pointed, sharpen, whet”), from acus (“needle, pin”). The word is cognate to ague (“acute, intermittent fever”). As regards the noun, which is derived from the verb, compare Middle English acūte (“severe but short-lived fever; of blood: corrosiveness, sharpness; musical note of high pitch”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Surprisingly, this analysis revealed that acute exposure to solvent vapors at concentrations below those associated with long-term effects appears to increase the risk of a fatal automobile accident. Furthermore, this increase in risk is comparable to the risk of death from leukemia after long-term exposure to benzene, another solvent, which has the well-known property of causing this type of cancer."
— 2013 July-August, Philip J. Bushnell, “Solvents, Ethanol, Car Crashes & Tolerance: How Risky is Inhalation of Organic Solvents?”, in American Scientist, Research Triangle Park, N.C.: Sigma Xi, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 19 Jun 2013:
"The nimble Fly's Wings quicker were / Than those of her Competitor [a bee], / As may by this appear; / For an acuter Tone they made, / And in a ſharper Key they play'd, / (Which made the matter clear.)"
— 1751, “a Lover of the Mathematicks” [pseudonym; Nathaniel Whittemore?], “Part II. New Paradoxes Solved.”, in A Mathematical Miscellany, in Four Parts., London: Printed for M. Cooper, […], →OCLC, paradox 61, stanza III, page 53:
"The acuteness of sound in stringed instruments depends on three circumstances—length, thickness, and tension. The shorter, smaller, and tighter a string, the more acute the sound. […] In the violin, when you desire an acute sound, you tighten the string. When you wish a loud sound, you draw the bow over the strings heavily."
— 1851, William C. Larrabee, “Lecture X. Evidences of Design from the Structure and Adaptations of the External Senses.”, in B[enjamin] F[ranklin] Tefft, editor, Lectures on the Scientific Evidences of Natural and Revealed Religion, Cincinnati, Oh.: Published by L. Swormstedt & J. H. Power, for the Methodist Episcopal Church, […]; R. P. Thompson, printer, →OCLC, paragraph 233, page 177:
"Miss Darcy was tall, and on a larger scale than Elizabeth; and, though little more than sixteen, her figure was formed, and her appearance womanly and graceful. She was less handsome than her brother; but there was sense and good humour in her face, and her manners were perfectly unassuming and gentle. Elizabeth, who had expected to find in her as acute and unembarrassed an observer as ever Mr. Darcy had been, was much relieved by discerning such different feelings."
— 1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter II, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume III, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, pages 37–38:
"It was at this time that the discord between Dmitri and his father seemed at its acutest stage and their relations had become insufferably strained."
— 1912, Fyodor Dostoevsky, “Elders”, in Constance Garnett, transl., The Brothers Karamazov (Novels of Fyodor Dostoevsky; 1), London: W[illiam] Heinemann, →OCLC; republished as The Brothers Karamazov, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, [1943], →OCLC, page 32:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The patient was admitted to the hospital due to an ____ pain in his lower abdomen that required immediate attention.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The patient was suffering from an ____ respiratory infection.