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PlainSpell

acute

/əˈkjut/adjective, noun, verb

acute is spelled A-C-U-T-E: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,121st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, acute means “Brief, quick, short” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in acute?

Letters5: A-C-U-T-E
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing10 times per million words; the 7,121st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is acute?

Acute appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 7,121st most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce acute?

  • UK /əˈkjuːt/
  • US /əˈkjut/

Acute has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-acute.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-acute.wav, En-au-acute.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with acute?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as acute from its last stressed vowel (/ut/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of acute

  • acuter comparative
  • more acute comparative
  • acutest superlative
  • most acute superlative
  • acutes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • acuting participle, present
  • acuted participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does acute mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Brief, quick, short.

    It was an acute event.

  2. 2

    High or shrill.

    an acute accent or tone

  3. 3

    Intense; sensitive; sharp.

    She had an acute sense of honour

  4. 4

    Urgent.

    His need for medical attention was acute.

  5. 5

    With the sides meeting directly to form an acute angle (at an apex or base).

  6. 6

    Less than 90 degrees.

    The teacher pointed out the acute angle.

  7. 7

    Having all three interior angles measuring less than 90 degrees.

    an acute triangle

  8. 8

    Of an accent or tone: generally higher than others.

noun

  1. 1

    informalA person who has the acute form of a disorder, such as schizophrenia.

  2. 2

    An accent or tone higher than others.

  3. 3

    An acute accent (´).

    The word ‘cafe’ often has an acute over the ‘e’.

verb

  1. 1

    To give an acute sound to.

    He acutes his rising inflection too much.

  2. 2

    archaicTo make acute; to sharpen, to whet.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Acute in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchaigu, aiguë (intense, sensitive, sharp – see also intense…)
Germanscharf (intense, sensitive, sharp – see also intense…), spitz ((geometry) of an angle: less than 90 degrees), akut ((medicine) of an abnormal condition of recent…)
Portugueseagudo (intense, sensitive, sharp – see also intense…), urgente (urgent – see also urgent)
Spanishagudo, perspicaz, sagaz (intense, sensitive, sharp – see also intense…), grave (urgent – see also urgent)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does acute come from?

From Late Middle English acute (“of a disease or fever: starting suddenly and lasting for a short time; of a humour: irritating, sharp”), from Latin acūta, from acūtus (“sharp, sharpened”), perfect passive participle of acuō (“to make pointed, sharpen, whet”), from acus (“needle, pin”). The word is cognate to ague (“acute, intermittent fever”). As regards the noun, which is derived from the verb, compare Middle English acūte (“severe but short-lived fever; of blood: corrosiveness, sharpness; musical note of high pitch”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after acute