acute (
http://definr.com/acute)
adj 1: (medicine) 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:
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:
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,
sharp]
6: of critical importance and consequence; "an acute (or
critical) lack of research funds"
n : a mark (') placed above a vowel to indicate pronunciation
[syn:
acute accent,
ague]