Acute - Definition

adj 1: having or experiencing a rapid onset and short but severe
course; "acute appendicitis"; "the acute phase of the
illness"; "acute patients" [ant: chronic]
2: extremely sharp or intense; "acute pain"; "felt acute
annoyance"; "intense itching and burning" [syn: acute,
intense]
3: having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine
distinctions; "an acute observer of politics and
politicians"; "incisive comments"; "icy knifelike reasoning";
"as sharp and incisive as the stroke of a fang"; "penetrating
insight"; "frequent penetrative observations" [syn: acute,
discriminating, incisive, keen, knifelike,
penetrating, penetrative, piercing, sharp]
4: of an angle; less than 90 degrees [ant: obtuse]
5: ending in a sharp point [syn: acuate, acute, sharp,
needlelike]
6: of critical importance and consequence; "an acute (or
critical) lack of research funds"
n 1: a mark (') placed above a vowel to indicate pronunciation
[syn: acute accent, acute, ague]