as‧tute /əˈstut, əˈstyut/ [uh-stoot, uh-styoot]
-adjective
1. of keen penetration or discernment; sagacious: an astute analysis.
2. clever; cunning; ingenious; shrewd: an astute merchandising program; an astute manipulation of facts.
[Origin: 1605–15; <>astūtus shrewd, sly, cunning, equiv. to astū- (s. of astus) cleverness + -tus adj. suffix]
—Related forms
as‧tute‧ly, adverb
as‧tute‧ness, noun
—Synonyms 1. smart, quick, perceptive. 2. artful, crafty, wily, sly.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.0.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
this is one of the most cherished words in my lexicon, partly because i fancy myself as being astute, but mostly because it sounds like an onomatopoeic synonym for flatulence.
2 comments:
hahahahaha oh man, only you could manage to find flatulence in ASTUTE. the stress would really have to be on the first syllable, though, for that to work. i had dinner w/ some friends from church today and the conversation was entirely about bedwetting and poop stories. it was awesome.
i considered transcribing my version of astute to reflect the misplaced stress (there's got to be a term for that phenomenon, right?), but i've since forgotten all the vowel symbols and sounds.
am i right in guessing that you started that conversation? you always have the best pee-poo stories.
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