sagacious
Americanadjective
-
having or showing acute mental discernment and keen practical sense; shrewd.
Socrates, that sagacious Greek philosopher, believed that the easiest way to learn was by asking questions.
- Synonyms:
- perspicacious, keen, sharp, acute, judicious, intelligent, clever, discerning, sage, wise
- Antonyms:
- unwise
-
Obsolete. having an acute sense of smell.
adjective
-
having or showing sagacity; wise
-
obsolete (of hounds) having an acute sense of smell
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sagacious
First recorded in 1600–10; sagaci(ty) + -ous
Explanation
Use the formal adjective sagacious to describe someone who is wise and insightful like an advisor to the president or a Supreme Court justice. Someone like an inspirational leader or an expert in a field who seeks knowledge and has foresight can be described as sagacious. If you comment on something at a deeper level, you are making a sagacious observation. The word is a descendent of Latin sagus "prophetic" and is related to the Old English word seek. Synonyms include discerning, insightful and another formal word perspicacious.
Vocabulary lists containing sagacious
"The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe
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Grade 11, List 5
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Leadership Vocabulary
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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.
Not many countries are often blessed with as sagacious a leader as Mariano, but many a family and institution will, through him, be reminded of the worth of such august figures.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 4, 2025
It’s a touching and sagacious concept — though hardly one guaranteed to be an artistic success.
From New York Times • Mar. 12, 2023
So the midfielder was inserted alongside 18-year-old Ricardo Pepi and 20-year-olds Brenden Aaronson and Sergiño Dest in an American lineup captained by Tyler Adams, a sagacious 22-year-old.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 8, 2021
At Amazon, Stone writes, “even the most inconsequential of utterances from the sagacious chief executive could instigate a flurry of wheel-spinning and white paper-writing.”
From Washington Post • May 6, 2021
But Burr’s entire life had been a sermon on the capacity of the sagacious spider to lift himself out of hellish difficulties and spin webs that trapped others.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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.
