Keen Meaning

/kiːn/
B1

Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

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adjOften with a prepositional phrase, or with to and an infinitive: showing a quick and ardent responsiveness or willingness; eager, enthusiastic, interested.

adjFierce, intense, vehement.

A fence between makes love more keen.
I was keen on classical music in my school days.
John was very keen to help.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The detective's ____ eyes noticed a tiny clue on the floor during the investigation.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He has a ____ interest in history and spends most of his free time reading books about ancient civilizations.

From Middle English kene (“bold, brave, sharp”), from Old English cēne (“keen, fierce, bold, brave, warlike, powerful; learned, clever, wise”), from Proto-Germanic *kōniz (“knowledgeable, skilful, experienced, clever, capable”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (“to know”). Cognate with Danish køn (“handsome, pretty”), Dutch kien (“smart, wise, able”), koen (“daring, valiant, doughty, courageous”), German kühn (“bold, daring, audacious, hardy, valiant, venturesome”), Icelandic kænn (“wise, crafty, clever, able”), Faroese kønur (“expert (in, on), experienced, skilful, able, capable”), Scots keen (“lively, brisk; avaricious”). Related to Old English cunnan (“to know how to, be able to”). More at cunning, can.

"Ophe[lia] You are keene my Lord, you are keene. / Ham[let] It would coſt you a groaning, to take off my edge." — c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies, London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, act III, scene ii, page 268, column 2:
"[N]euer did I know / A creature that did beare the ſhape of man / So keene and greedy to confound a man." — c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies, London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, act III, scene ii, page 176, column 1:
"Her love of a good dinner herself, and her still keener love of the approbation she won by setting it before others, kept up perpetual warfare with her savingness […]" — 1885, Helen Hunt Jackson, Zeph: A Posthumous Story:
"The tongues of mocking wenches are as keen As is the Razors edge, inuisible: […]" — c. 1595–1596, William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies, London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, act V, scene ii, page 139, column 1:
"Come thick Night, / And pall thee in the dunneſt ſmoake of Hell, / That my keene Knife ſee not the Wound it makes, / Nor Heauen peepe through the Blanket of the darke, / To cry, hold, hold." — c. 1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies, London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, act I, scene v, page 134, column 2:

Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words

CEFR Practice Quiz
The detective's ____ eyes noticed a tiny clue on the floor during the investigation.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He has a ____ interest in history and spends most of his free time reading books about ancient civilizations.

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