- sharp
- sharp, keen, acute can all mean having a fine point or edge, but it is in several of their extended senses that they are most likely to come into comparison. As applied to persons or their qualities, especially of intellect, all three can indicate possession of alert competence and clear understanding. In such use sharp is likely to suggest an incisive self-centered quality, sometimes manifest in alert rationality, sometimes in devious cunning{
she could never hear enough of this girl's worldly wisdom, vulgar sharp wit, and intimate gossip about well-known people— Wouk
}{a man whose sharp face and sharp voice seemed wholeheartedly dedicated to chicanery and lewdness— Cheever
}{the mumbo jumbo ... interested him. He was sharp enough to guess that these formalities were in the honor of some god— Forester
}{Russell's critique of these works and their philosophical bases is sharp, limpid, and yet profound. With sovereign ease he handles subtleties and ambiguities, disposes of mathematical paradoxes and philosophical paralogisms, refutes errors, and dissipates confusion— Kline
}Keen (see also EAGER) usually stresses eager enthusiasm, clear-sightedness, and quick penetrating character of mind{now hath the child grown greater, and is keen and eager of wit and full of understanding— Morris
}{candidates shall be selected on the basis of future promise of leadership, strength of character, keen mind, a balanced judgment— Official Register of Harvard Univ.
}but it may imply no more than shrewd astuteness{able businessmen ... as keen in their bargains as they were faithful to their engagements— Scudder
}Acute (see also ACUTE) may come close to keen in implying a penetrating quality of mind but it is more likely to stress sensitivity and depth and effectiveness of perception especially in the making of subtle distinctions{his creative tendencies were restrained, however, by an acute critical sense, a liking for research, and his genius for teaching— Starr
}{my very acute grandmother, who at eighty-eight is clear and definite in her political convictions— Current Biog.
}{the acutest philosophers have succeeded in liberating themselves completely from the narrow prison of their age and country— Huxley
}As applied to something perceptible through the senses sharp often suggests a disagreeably cutting or biting quality{sharp as vinegar
}{a sharp voice
}{a sharp flash
}{a sharp wind
}or it may emphasize distinctness or clearness of definition{a sharp outline
}{sharp contrasts
}{had happened close on twenty years ago. Yet how short a time it seemed, so sharp was still the impression of that night— Mackenzie
}Keen, in contrast, may suggest a bracing, zestful, or piquant quality{the wind came keen with a tang of frost— Masefield
}{very keen is the savor of the roast beef that floats up— Benson
}Acute, less common in this sense, may impute an intensely perceptible and often distasteful quality to what it qualifies{the stench was acute— Mailer
}{the sound rose to an almost painfully acute note
}As applied to the senses themselves, all imply exceptional functional efficiency and choice is predicated on idiom; thus, sharp is used especially of sight and hearing, keen, of sight and smell, and acute, of hearing. As characterizing pleasures and pains, sharp suggests most definitely something that seems to cut or pierce, keen implies intensity, and acute implies poignancy{a sharp pain
}{keen zest
}{acute anguish
}Analogous words: *incisive, trenchant, cutting, biting: mordant, *caustic, scathing: piercing, penetrating, probing (see ENTER): tricky, cunning, artful, wily, guileful, *slyAntonyms: dull: blunt
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
