Perspicacious Meaning and Usage

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Meaning:

adjective

- having or showing penetrating mental discernment; clear-sighted.
- acutely insightful and wise; “to exhibit perspicacious judgment.”

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Derivatives:

perspicaciously - adverb.
perspicaciousness - noun.
perspicacity – noun.

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Synonyms:
astute, cagey, canny, knowing, shrewd, slick, smart, wise, sagacious, sapient, discerning

Antonyms:
dull, ignorant, inattentive, unobservant, unperceptive, stupid

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Use Perspicacious in a sentence:

1. She was very perspicacious to remain aloof from him when he started asking her to trust him.

2. The judge was much too perspicacious to be taken in by such an argument.

3. He is so perspicacious he can predict market trends from the thickness of Mark’s briefcase.

4. The perspicacious detective was able to determine the perpetrator of the crime.

5. His perspicacious grandfather had bought the land as an investment, guessing that there might be gold underground.

6. The average time for solving the puzzle was seven minutes, but some of the more perspicacious subjects did it in under three minutes.

7. In spite of this slip-up, you're generally perspicacious enough to keep me entertained.

8. Even my perspicacious father could not have predicted that my brother would end up joining the circus.

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Did you know?

"Perspicacious" is similar in meaning to "shrewd" and "astute". All three mean acute in perception and sound in judgment, but "shrewd" stresses practical, hardheaded cleverness ("a shrewd judge of character"), whereas "perspicacious" implies unusual power to see through and comprehend what is puzzling or hidden ("the perspicacious general correctly determined the enemy's next move"). "Astute" suggests both shrewdness and perspicacity, as well as diplomatic skill ("an astute player of party politics").

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Some more examples:

1. Having perspicaciously deducing the results of the potential paths before me, I couldn't even make a decision.

2. Anna’s writings on human suffering revealed a perspicacious, compassionate woman.

3. The surgeon spoke with the fluency due to long practice and with the admirable perspicacity which distinguished him.

4. Sam recited the couplet with such manifest pride and careful perspicuity, that I asked him if he had made it himself.

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