Meaning & use
perspicacious
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Meaning
adjectivecomparableformal
Quick to notice and understand things that are not obvious, and able to judge them wisely.
Grammar: Can come before a noun or after be: a perspicacious critic, or she was perspicacious.
Patterns
- a perspicacious observer
- perspicacious about something
A perspicacious reader will spot the clue in the first chapter.
The perspicacious investor sold her shares before the market fell.
His perspicacious remarks showed that he had understood the real problem.
Word forms
| comparative | more perspicacious |
|---|---|
| superlative | most perspicacious |
Common combinations
- a perspicacious observer
- As a perspicacious observer of office politics, she saw the merger coming.
- perspicacious comment
- His perspicacious comment changed the direction of the meeting.
- remarkably perspicacious
- The child was remarkably perspicacious for her age.
- perspicacious critic
- The perspicacious critic praised the film's quiet ending.
- perspicacious mind
- The detective had a perspicacious mind.
Synonyms and how they differ
- perceptive
- Perceptive is the everyday choice for someone who notices things well, and sounds less formal than perspicacious.
- shrewd
- Shrewd often hints at cleverness in business or dealing with people, and can imply cunning.
- astute
- Astute is close in meaning but stresses practical judgment, especially in money or politics.
- discerning
- Discerning focuses on good taste and the ability to tell good from bad.
Opposites
Word family
- perspicacity noun
- the ability to see clearly into things and judge wisely
- perspicaciously adverb
- in a keenly perceptive way
- perspicuous adjective
- clearly expressed and easy to understand
Commonly confused: perspicacious or perspicuous?
perspicacious vs perspicuous
Perspicuous describes writing or speech that is clear and easy to understand. Perspicacious describes a person who sees things clearly.
Practice
Her _____ analysis of the market warned us of the crash long before anyone else noticed.
Choose one answer.
Perspicacious means keenly insightful, which suits an analysis that predicted the crash. The other options describe weak or careless thinking.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “perspicacious”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.