Acute

How to spell acute

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce acute

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does acute mean?

1. adjectiveReaching a sharp, severe peak, often suddenly and for a short time.
2. adjectiveHaving sharp perception, insight, or sensitivity.
3. adjectiveDescribing an angle of less than ninety degrees.

Acute in a sentence

• The patient was admitted with acute chest pain.

• Her acute judgement saved the project from collapse.

• The triangle had one acute angle and two obtuse ones.

• The company faces an acute shortage of skilled staff.

• Dogs have an acute sense of smell.

• Draw an acute angle measuring forty-five degrees.

Where does acute come from?

Language of origin: Latin

Acute comes from the Latin acutus, the past participle of the verb acuere, meaning 'to sharpen', which itself grew from acus, the Latin word for 'needle'. The literal idea was something brought to a fine point, and that sharpness later spread into figurative uses: a sharp angle, a sharp pain, a sharp mind. English took the word in during the late 1300s, first in medical writing to describe an illness that comes to a quick, severe peak rather than lingering. The same needle-sharp root sits behind a family of relatives such as 'acid', 'acumen', and even 'eager', so the thread of pointedness runs through them all. Because the spelling keeps the clean Latin shape, the only real trap is remembering the single 'c' and the quiet final 'e'.

How the word is built

• acu- (from Latin acuere, to sharpen)
• -te (past-participle/adjective ending)