acute
/əˈkjut/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.00 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Example Sentences
- "It was an acute event."
- "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."
- "an acute accent or tone"
- "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.)"
- "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."
- "She had an acute sense of honour"
Etymology
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”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *h₂eḱ-, acute, acūta
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /əˈkjut/
- British English: /əˈkjuːt/
Usage
Inflected Forms
acuter (comparative)
more acute (comparative)
acutest (superlative)
most acute (superlative)
acutes (plural)
acutes (present, singular)
acuting (participle, present)
acuted (participle, past)
acuted (past)