SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
astute
adjective
Quick to notice and understand important details.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Perceptive and practically wise
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topCanny emphasizes practical caution; perspicacious is a formal alternative for keen perception.
RELATED FORMS, ONE FEATURED ENTRY
The astute family
These forms are closely related, but their grammar and use are not identical. Expand a form to compare its meaning and examples.
astutenessnoun
Skill in noticing what matters and making sound practical judgments.
Practical discernment
Closest synonyms
Related expressions
The editor's astuteness helped her identify the manuscript's strongest argument.
Before printing, Ravi agreed to scrutinize the route notes, comparing each address with the organizer's confirmed location list. His discernment helped him separate a harmless variation in a building's nickname from a genuinely wrong street number. He showed astuteness by noticing that two individually workable clues sent teams through the same narrow entrance at once.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See astute in use
An astute reader noticed the contradiction in the final paragraph.
A small gallery asked volunteers to review labels for a student exhibition. Jules was a discerning reader who noticed subtle differences between confident description and unsupported interpretation. His astute suggestion was to compare each label with the artist's own notes.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license