perceptive
Americanadjective
-
having or showing keenness of insight, understanding, or intuition.
a perceptive analysis of the problems involved.
- Synonyms:
- astute, keen, sensitive, discerning
-
having the power or faculty of perceiving.
-
of, relating to, or showing perception.
adjective
-
quick at perceiving; observant
-
perceptual
-
able to perceive
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of perceptive
Explanation
If someone calls you perceptive, they mean you are good at understanding things or figuring things out. Perceptive people are insightful, intelligent, and able to see what others cannot. Perceive means "to see"; so, perceptive is a word to describe someone who is good at seeing. Perceptive is derived from the Latin word percipere which means "to obtain or gather." A perceptive person is good at gathering information and using her senses to take in the world. If you are upset but trying to hide it, a perceptive person is the one who will notice.
Vocabulary lists containing perceptive
ACT Reading Test: Words to Capture Tone, List 1
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The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 5
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The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But while Amanda's game plan slipped under the radar, the traitors have shared their suspicions that Fiona may be the secret traitor and "pretending to be a bit less perceptive than she actually is".
From BBC • Jan. 6, 2026
“The Bloody Crossroads,” published in 1987, isn’t the kind of book you expect a journalist to write: a collection of perceptive, thoroughgoing literary essays on important writers from Henry Adams to Alexander Solzhenitsyn.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 26, 2025
Taylor is one of the most emotionally perceptive fiction writers working today, and his third novel, set in the New York art world, is his best.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 8, 2025
There, in the confines of its pages, Nora recognizes that her father has a much more innate and perceptive knowledge of her that neither of them ever could’ve imagined.
From Salon • Nov. 23, 2025
At the California Labor School a forceful and perceptive teacher quickly and unceremoniously separated me from melodrama.
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
