Meanings
plural astutenesses
- uncountableusuallyThe quality of being astute.
And this arose not so much from his greater virtue, nor even his superior style, but from his astuteness in understanding that his frame is best served by custom tailoring.
2006, Nicholas Antongiavanni [pseudonym; Michael Anton], The Suit: A Machiavellian Approach to Men's Style, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 271 more example
Soda was added to an interval pregnant with legal stultifications, and the trooper continued to say nothing till he had taken a swig at his almost neat whisky. It fulfilled its function of humanizing him on the spot, though he refused to concede his astuteness to a mere gulp of liquor.
1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 161
Synonyms & antonyms
nounintelligence manifested by being astute (as in business dealings)
nounthe intellectual ability to penetrate deeply into ideas
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Arabic دَهَاء
- دَهَاء (dahāʔ)quality of being astute, also cleverness
Basque azerikeria
- azerikeriaquality of being astute, also cleverness
Catalan astúcia
- astúciaquality of being astute, also cleverness
Chinese Mandarin 精明
- 精明 (jīngmíng)quality of being astute, also cleverness
Czech prozíravost, mazanost
- prozíravostquality of being astute, also cleverness
- mazanostquality of being astute, also cleverness
- prohnanostquality of being astute, also cleverness
Finnish neuvokkuus
- neuvokkuusquality of being astute, also cleverness
French perspicacité, sagacité
- perspicacitéquality of being astute, also cleverness
- sagacitéquality of being astute, also cleverness
German Gerissenheit, Scharfsinn
- Gerissenheitquality of being astute, also cleverness
- Scharfsinnquality of being astute, also cleverness
- Scharsinnigkeitquality of being astute, also cleverness
Irish amhainse
- amhainsequality of being astute, also cleverness
Italian astuzia, scaltrezza
- astuziaquality of being astute, also cleverness
- scaltrezzaquality of being astute, also cleverness
Portuguese astúcia
- astúciaquality of being astute, also cleverness
Russian проница́тельность, кова́рство
- проница́тельность (pronicátelʹnostʹ)quality of being astute, also cleverness
- кова́рство (kovárstvo)quality of being astute, also cleverness
Spanish astucia, sagacidad
- astuciaquality of being astute, also cleverness
- sagacidadquality of being astute, also cleverness
- letra menudaquality of being astute, also cleverness
Turkish açıkgözlük, kurnazlık
- açıkgözlükquality of being astute, also cleverness
- kurnazlıkquality of being astute, also cleverness
- zekilikquality of being astute, also cleverness
Cite this entry
astuteness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/astuteness
“astuteness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/astuteness. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “astuteness,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/astuteness.
Source: astuteness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.