astute
intelligent
TRANSLATION
astute = scharfsinnig --- GOOGLE INDEX astute: approximately 11,800,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Clinton supporter Pharrell Williams makes an ASTUTE political observation.
(The Washington Post)
---
The ASTUTE airline passenger in the UK, though, will carry on flying.
(The Independent)
(The Washington Post)
---
The ASTUTE airline passenger in the UK, though, will carry on flying.
(The Independent)
Did you
know?
astute
adjective
- able to understand a situation quickly and see how to take advantage of it.
(Cambridge Dictionary)
---
The word comes from Latin "astutus", or clever or crafty. This means that the person is not simply intelligent, but able to create favourable conditions or opportunities from a situation.
When you refer to someone's strong mental capacity, you can say that the person is sharp. A very similar word, acute, also refers to the sense of being sharp, such as pain, for example. Because acute can also mean deeply perceptive, it seems to refer to the same qualities as astute. The difference is minimal in many cases.
Be astute about learning English. Note these idioms that use sharp in the sense of clever - or not, as the case may be.
- sharp as a tack/ knife = very clever (Our new hire is as sharp as a tack)
- sharp as a marble = not particularly smart (The delivery person left the pizza on the doorstep. He's as sharp as a marble.)
- not the sharpest knife in the kitchen = a bit stupid (Sorry, you'll have to repeat the instructions again. I'm not the sharpest knife in the kitchen)
Alternatives include:
- not the sharpest tool in the shed
- not the sharpest pencil in the drawer
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SYNONYMS
sharp, acute, adroit, clever, crafty, intelligent, bright, smart, canny, intuitive, perceptive, quick, insightful, incisive, sagacious, wise
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"Ask Stephanie what she thinks about the candidate. She's an astute judge of character."
adjective
- able to understand a situation quickly and see how to take advantage of it.
(Cambridge Dictionary)
---
The word comes from Latin "astutus", or clever or crafty. This means that the person is not simply intelligent, but able to create favourable conditions or opportunities from a situation.
When you refer to someone's strong mental capacity, you can say that the person is sharp. A very similar word, acute, also refers to the sense of being sharp, such as pain, for example. Because acute can also mean deeply perceptive, it seems to refer to the same qualities as astute. The difference is minimal in many cases.
Be astute about learning English. Note these idioms that use sharp in the sense of clever - or not, as the case may be.
- sharp as a tack/ knife = very clever (Our new hire is as sharp as a tack)
- sharp as a marble = not particularly smart (The delivery person left the pizza on the doorstep. He's as sharp as a marble.)
- not the sharpest knife in the kitchen = a bit stupid (Sorry, you'll have to repeat the instructions again. I'm not the sharpest knife in the kitchen)
Alternatives include:
- not the sharpest tool in the shed
- not the sharpest pencil in the drawer
---
SYNONYMS
sharp, acute, adroit, clever, crafty, intelligent, bright, smart, canny, intuitive, perceptive, quick, insightful, incisive, sagacious, wise
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"Ask Stephanie what she thinks about the candidate. She's an astute judge of character."
