Meanings
plural acuities
- figurativelyThe ability to think, see, or hear clearly.
The old woman with dementia lost her mental acuity.
2 more examples
And yet [Ray] Dalio’s acuity prompts an awkward question: how much of Bridgewater’s success comes not from the way it is organized, or any notion of “radical transparency,” but from the boss’s raw investment abilities?
2011 July 18, John Cassidy, “Mastering the Machine”, in The New Yorker, →ISSNDonald Trump’s frequently bizarre public appearances[…] have once again raised questions about his mental acuity, experts say. […] During his presidency, Joe Biden was subjected to intense speculation over his mental acuity – including from Trump.
2025 August 3, Adam Gabbatt, “‘He has trouble completing a thought’: bizarre public appearances again cast doubt on Trump’s mental acuity”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
Synonyms & antonyms
nounsharpness of vision; the visual ability to resolve fine detail (usually measured by a Snellen chart)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinacuō“sharpen”
- Medieval Latinacuitas
- Middle Frenchacuité
- Middle Englishacuite
- Englishacuity
From Middle English acuite, acuyte, from Middle French acuité, from Medieval Latin acuitas, irreg., from Latin acuō (“sharpen”).
More words from Middle English, Middle French, Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian острота
- острота (ostrota)sharpness or acuteness
Chinese Mandarin 銳利 /锐利, 尖銳 /尖锐
- 銳利 /锐利 (ruìlì)sharpness or acuteness
- 尖銳 /尖锐 (jiānruì)sharpness or acuteness
- 敏銳 /敏锐 (mǐnruì)sharpness or acuteness
Czech ostrost, bystrost
- ostrostsharpness or acuteness
- bystrostsharpness or acuteness
- pronikavostsharpness or acuteness
- vnímavostsharpness or acuteness
Danish skarphed
- skarphedsharpness or acuteness
Dutch scherpte
- scherptesharpness or acuteness
Esperanto sagaceco
- sagacecosharpness or acuteness
Finnish terävyys
- terävyyssharpness or acuteness
French acuité
- acuitésharpness or acuteness
German Schärfe
- Schärfesharpness or acuteness
Greek οξυδέρκεια
- οξυδέρκεια (oxydérkeia)sharpness or acuteness
Hungarian élesség
- élességsharpness or acuteness
Italian acutezza
- acutezzasharpness or acuteness
Māori nahotanga
- nahotangasharpness or acuteness
Polish ostrość
- ostrośćsharpness or acuteness
Portuguese acuidade
- acuidadesharpness or acuteness
Romanian acuitate
- acuitatesharpness or acuteness
Russian острота́, ре́зкость
- острота́ (ostrotá)sharpness or acuteness
- ре́зкость (rézkostʹ)sharpness or acuteness
Spanish acuidad
- acuidadsharpness or acuteness
Swedish skärpa
- skärpasharpness or acuteness
Ukrainian гострота́
- гострота́ (hostrotá)sharpness or acuteness
Cite this entry
acuity. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acuity
“acuity.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acuity. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “acuity,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acuity.
Source: acuity on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.