perspicacity
Americannoun
-
keenness of mental perception and understanding; discernment; penetration.
- Synonyms:
- acumen, insight, astuteness, acuity, shrewdness
- Antonyms:
- obtuseness
-
Archaic. keen vision.
Synonym Usage
See perspicuity.
Etymology
Origin of perspicacity
First recorded in 1540–50; earlier perspicacite, from Late Latin perspicācitās “sharpness of sight,” equivalent to perspicāci- (stem of perspicāx “sharp-sighted”; see perspicuous) + -tās -ty 2
Explanation
If you devote long hours to the arts of attention and analysis, you might develop the perspicacity required to become a really good detective. Perspicacity comes from the Latin word for penetrating sight. If you have perspicacity, you are good at discerning what is really going on where others might only see surface clues. Perspicacity is a quality that many professionals need, from detectives to doctors to therapists. If someone is perspicacious, we might also say they have a "shrewd mind," or a "keen intelligence."
Vocabulary lists containing perspicacity
The Count of Monte Cristo
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"Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte, Chapters 10–14
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Wuthering Heights
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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.
In place of firebrand feminism, the film emphasizes decency, perspicacity and rigor.
From New York Times • Nov. 16, 2022
Then we might end up just going to places that only had newsrooms and attitudes that met the kind of high standards for diversity, disinterest and perspicacity we aspire to maintain for ourselves.
From Fox News • Jul. 17, 2020
We also have a new candidate, John Adams’ “The Gospel According to the Other Mary,” given its premiere by the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2012 and already being put to the perspicacity test.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2020
Just like Marie Curie, who earned them for physics and chemistry and is the hero of this particular Wendy, played with a winning perspicacity by Sinclair Daniel.
From Washington Post • Dec. 11, 2019
The goat, which had slid about during the transfer, regarded him with bright-eyed perspicacity, but made no sound.
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
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.
