Astute | Definition of astute by Merriam-Webster

Full Definition of ASTUTE

: having or showing shrewdness and perspicacity <an astute observer> <astute remarks>; also : crafty, wily

— as·tute·ly adverb

— as·tute·ness noun

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Examples of ASTUTE

We thought they were not very intellectually astute, but we didn't really understand how political a lot of what they were doing was. —Ben Wallace-Wells, Rolling Stone, 15 Nov. 2007
He asked astute diagnosticians around the country how they approached and cracked difficult diagnoses and what happened when they failed. Misdiagnosis is not an insignificant problem: Groopman cites a finding that between one in six and one in seven patients is incorrectly assessed. —Ruth Levy Guyer, Wilson Quarterly, Summer 2007
And finally, even if she had never actually uttered the bon mot that would be famously attributed to her, that if she had two heads, she would risk one in the king's service, could the astute young duchess actually have had input into the implausible negotiations? —Harvey Rachlin, Scandals, Vandals, and Da Vincis, 2007
Focusing largely upon Western alchemy during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, she has a sharp eye for how alchemical images surface in literature of that period. Readers of Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe, and William Shakespeare will find illuminating insights. Abraham reveals the far reaches of her astute literary intelligence by analyzing alchemical imagery encoded in a broad range of works, from Chaucer and Milton to Vladimir Nabokov and P.G. Wodehouse. —Norman Weinstein, Parabola, November 1999
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Origin of ASTUTE

Latin astutus, from astus craft

First Known Use: 1565

Related to ASTUTE

Synonyms: shrewd, canny, clear-eyed, clear-sighted, hard-boiled, hardheaded, heady, knowing, savvy, sharp, sharp-witted, smart

Antonyms: unknowing

Synonym Discussion of ASTUTE

shrewd, sagacious, perspicacious, astute mean acute in perception and sound in judgment. shrewd stresses practical, hardheaded cleverness and judgment <a shrewd judge of character>. sagacious suggests wisdom, penetration, and farsightedness <sagacious investors got in on the ground floor>. perspicacious implies unusual power to see through and understand what is puzzling or hidden <a perspicacious counselor saw through the child's facade>. astute suggests shrewdness, perspicacity, and diplomatic skill <an astute player of party politics>.