Library / English Dictionary

ACUTELY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (adverb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Having a rapid onset

Example:

an acutely debilitating virus

Classified under:

Adverbs

Antonym:

chronically (in a slowly developing and long lasting manner)

Pertainym:

acute (having or experiencing a rapid onset and short but severe course)

Sense 2

Meaning:

In a shrewd manner

Example:

he was acutely insightful

Synonyms:

acutely; astutely; sagaciously; sapiently; shrewdly

Classified under:

Adverbs

Pertainym:

sharp (marked by practical hardheaded intelligence)

Sense 3

Meaning:

In a keen or penetrating way

Example:

acutely aware

Synonyms:

acutely; keenly

Classified under:

Adverbs

Pertainym:

acute (having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Changing suddenly in direction and degree

Example:

her shoes had acutely pointed toes

Synonyms:

acutely; sharp; sharply

Classified under:

Adverbs

Pertainym:

acute (ending in a sharp point)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Frequent in some GEM and mice infected with acutely transforming MuLV; Necropsy findings: Splenomegaly, generalized lymphadenopathy, usually with extensive spread to liver, kidney, and lungs, sometimes to meninges with skull exostoses and hind limb paralysis; leukemic form in about one third of cases; Cell size: Medium, uniform; Cytoplasm: Scant; Nuclei: Round or ovoid; chromatin fine; Nucleoli: Variable, often single, central and prominent but sometimes small and multiple; Mitoses: Numerous; Pattern: Diffuse, sometimes starry sky because of apoptosis.

(Mouse Precursor B Cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma and Leukemia, NCI Thesaurus/MMHCC)

So acutely did Mrs. Dashwood feel this ungracious behaviour, and so earnestly did she despise her daughter-in-law for it, that, on the arrival of the latter, she would have quitted the house for ever, had not the entreaty of her eldest girl induced her first to reflect on the propriety of going, and her own tender love for all her three children determined her afterwards to stay, and for their sakes avoid a breach with their brother.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

A registered nurse prepared in a graduate level acute care nurse practitioner program to provide and manage health care of acutely ill, and critically or chronically ill adult patients in a wide range of settings.

(Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, NCI Thesaurus)

What had just passed; what Mrs. Reed had said concerning me to Mr. Brocklehurst; the whole tenor of their conversation, was recent, raw, and stinging in my mind; I had felt every word as acutely as I had heard it plainly, and a passion of resentment fomented now within me.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I took Mr. Dick with me, because, acutely sensitive to my aunt's reverses, and sincerely believing that no galley-slave or convict worked as I did, he had begun to fret and worry himself out of spirits and appetite, as having nothing useful to do.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

When an individual suffers from this chronic condition, sensory stimuli such as temperature (especially cold sensations) and tactile sensations, which under normal circumstances do not generally cause pain, are interpreted by the nervous system as acutely painful.

(Genetic study paves way for new neuropathic pain treatments, University of Granada)

The dear Colonel rallied his spirits tolerably till just at last; but Darcy seemed to feel it most acutely, more, I think, than last year.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Mr. Yates felt it as acutely as might be supposed.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

While something in me, he went on, is acutely sensible to her charms, something else is as deeply impressed with her defects: they are such that she could sympathise in nothing I aspired to—co-operate in nothing I undertook.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The mischief of neglect and mistaken indulgence towards such a girl—oh! how acutely did she now feel it!

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)