noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Sharpness or acuteness, as of a needle, wit, etc.
2. 2
   a quick and penetrating intelligence wordnet
3. 3
   The ability to think, see, or hear clearly. figuratively

   "The old woman with dementia lost her mental acuity."

4. 4
   sharpness of vision; the visual ability to resolve fine detail (usually measured by a Snellen chart) wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

acutenessacridityacumenacuminationacutenessadroitness

Antonyms

All antonyms

thicknessdimnessdimwittednessdullness

Example

More examples

"The hearing acuity of dogs is superior by far to that of humans."

Etymology

From Middle English acuite, acuyte, from Middle French acuité, from Medieval Latin acuitas, irreg., from Latin acuō (“sharpen”).

Related phrases

visual acuity

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.