Meaning & use
sagacious
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Meaning
adjectivecomparableformalliterary
Having good judgment and the practical wisdom to make clever decisions.
Grammar: Describes people or their decisions: a sagacious leader, a sagacious move.
Patterns
- a sagacious decision
- sagacious about something
The sagacious old farmer knew the storm would pass by evening.
It was a sagacious move to save money before the prices rose.
She gave sagacious advice that spared the company a costly mistake.
Word forms
| comparative | more sagacious |
|---|---|
| superlative | most sagacious |
Common combinations
- sagacious advice
- His sagacious advice saved the project.
- sagacious leader
- The town was led by a sagacious mayor.
- sagacious investor
- A sagacious investor sells before the market turns.
- sagacious decision
- Moving the office was a sagacious decision.
- sagacious observer
- A sagacious observer noticed the pattern at once.
Synonyms and how they differ
- wise
- Wise is the everyday word and covers deep understanding, while sagacious stresses sharp practical judgment.
- shrewd
- Shrewd often hints at cunning and self-interest, while sagacious sounds more honourable.
- astute
- Astute stresses quickness in noticing advantage, whereas sagacious suggests wisdom built up over time.
- perceptive
- Perceptive is about noticing details others miss, while sagacious is about deciding well from them.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: sagacious or salacious? sagacious or sagacity?
sagacious vs salacious
Salacious means indecent or lustful, which is unrelated to wisdom. The two are often mixed up because they look similar.
sagacious vs sagacity
Sagacity is the noun for the quality, while sagacious is the adjective.
Practice
The retired judge gave ____ advice that helped the young lawyer avoid a costly error.
Choose one answer.
Sagacious means wise and discerning, which suits good advice. Tenacious means persistent, and salacious or spacious do not fit advice.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “sagacious”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.