Sagacity Meaning
/səˈɡæ.sə.ti/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe quality of being sage, wise, or able to make good decisions; the quality of being perceptive, astute or insightful.
nounKeen sense of smell.
Sentence Examples
I fear my loose tongue has belied any pretentions I had of sagacity.
Tom isn't known for his sagacity.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The leader's ____ helped the country avoid many wars and conflicts during his reign.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The elder was respected throughout the village for her ____ and sound judgment.
Word Origin & History
From French sagacité, from Latin sagācitās (“sagaciousness”), from sagāx (“of quick perception, acute, sagacious”), from sāgiō (“to perceive by the senses”). Equivalent to sagac(ious) + -ity.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Young ladies have great penetration in such matters as these; but I think I may defy even your sagacity, to discover the name of your admirer."
— 1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter 15, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC:
"Immediately after the meal, when he was alone again, he set to work to examine Drayton’s papers, of which there lay quite a mass on the table near him and, leaning toward the lamp on his elbow, he weighed the meaning of each with a certain sideward sagacity of gaze, a sagacity that smiled in its self-sureness.
Swiss Family Robinson- "....near the mouth of a creek, towards which all our geese and ducks betook themselves; and I, relying on their sagacity, followed in the same course.""
— 1904, M. P. Shiel, The Evil That Men Do, London: Ward, Lock & Co., Chapter:
"[…] this Beast [the Ichneumon] is not only enemy to the Crocodile and Asp, but also to their Egs, which she hunteth out by the sagacity of her nose, and so destroyeth them […]"
— 1607, Edward Topsell, The History of Four-footed Beasts, Serpents, and Insects, London: G. Sawbridge et al., published 1658, page 352:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The leader's ____ helped the country avoid many wars and conflicts during his reign.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The elder was respected throughout the village for her ____ and sound judgment.