1. (

• acute_accent ,
• acute ,
• ague

) a mark placed above a vowel to indicate pronunciation ;

1. (

• acute

) having or experiencing a rapid onset and short but severe course; "acute appendicitis"; "the acute phase of the illness"; "acute patients" ;

2. (

• acute ,
• intense

) extremely sharp or severe; "acute pain"; "felt acute annoyance"; "intense itching and burning" ;

3. (

• acute ,
• discriminating ,
• incisive ,
• keen ,
• knifelike ,
• penetrating ,
• penetrative ,
• piercing ,
• sharp

) 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" ;

4. (

• acute ,

) of an angle; less than 90 degrees ;

5. (

• acuate ,
• acute ,
• sharp ,
• needlelike

) ending in a sharp point ;

6. (

• acute

) of critical importance and consequence; "an acute (or critical) lack of research funds" ;