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perceptive

[per-sep-tiv]
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adjective
  1. having or showing keenness of insight, understanding, or intuition: a perceptive analysis of the problems involved.
  2. having the power or faculty of perceiving.
  3. of, relating to, or showing perception.

Origin of perceptive

1650–60; < Latin percept(us) (see percept) + -ive
Related formsper·cep·tive·ly, adverbper·cep·tiv·i·ty, per·cep·tive·ness, nounnon·per·cep·tive, adjectivenon·per·cep·tive·ly, adverbnon·per·cep·tive·ness, nounnon·per·cep·tiv·i·ty, nounself-per·cep·tive, adjectivesem·i·per·cep·tive, adjectiveun·per·cep·tive, adjectiveun·per·cep·tive·ly, adverb
Can be confusedperceptible perceptive

Synonyms

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1. discerning, sensitive, keen, astute.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for perceptively

Historical Examples

  • Perceptively I shudder in the awful remembrance of their occasion, and the day may come when they will be needed once more.

    Walls of Acid

    Henry Hasse

  • I stopped long enough to check the Bonanza .375 both visually and perceptively and then loaded it full.

    Highways in Hiding

    George Oliver Smith

British Dictionary definitions for perceptively

perceptive

adjective
  1. quick at perceiving; observant
  2. perceptual
  3. able to perceive
Derived Formsperceptively, adverbperceptiveness or perceptivity, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for perceptively

perceptive

adj.

1650s, from Latin percept-, past participle stem of percipere (see perceive) + -ive. In reference to intelligence from 1860. From mid-15c. as the name of a type of optical instrument. Related: Perceptively; perceptiveness.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
perceptively in Medicine

perceptive

(pər-sĕp′tĭv)
adj.
  1. Of or relating to perception.
  2. Having the ability to perceive.
  3. Keenly discerning.
Related formsper′cep•tiv′i•ty (pûr′sĕp-tĭv′ĭ-tē) n.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.