Meaning & use

perceptive

adjective·Academic

Quick to notice or understand things that are not obvious, showing keen insight or awareness.

See it in a sentence

Her perceptive comment revealed a detail everyone else in the meeting had missed.

The perceptive detective noticed the smudged fingerprint no one else had spotted.

A note on using this word

Perceptive describes someone who notices subtle details or meanings, going beyond simply being 'smart' or 'intelligent'.

Words with a similar meaning

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Words with an opposite meaning

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