perspicacity

[pur-spi-kas-i-tee]

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noun

keenness of mental perception and understanding; discernment; penetration.

Archaic. keen vision.

Origin of perspicacity

1540–50; earlier perspicacite < Late Latin perspicācitās sharpness of sight, equivalent to perspicāci- (stem of perspicāx sharp-sighted; see perspicuous) + -tās -ty²

Synonyms for perspicacity

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1. shrewdness, acuity, astuteness, insight, acumen. See perspicuity.

Antonyms for perspicacity

1. obtuseness.

Examples from the Web for perspicacity

Historical Examples of perspicacity

Your reading of my character does honour to your perspicacity.
Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard
Joseph Conrad
I am not in the least disconcerted by this display of perspicacity.
Notes on My Books
Joseph Conrad
The dear woman had known nothing of the kind and her perspicacity amazed her.
The Paliser case
Edgar Saltus
He stopped there with such an air of triumph and perspicacity that I was angry with him.
In Direst Peril
David Christie Murray
Yet the perspicacity that he seldom wanted failed him at that moment.
Lectures on the French Revolution
John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton

Word Origin and History for perspicacity

1540s, from Middle French perspicacité (15c.) and directly from Late Latin perspicacitas "sharp-sightedness, discernment," from Latin perspicax "sharp-sighted, having the power of seeing through," from perspicere "look through, look closely at" (see perspective).