It first entered the English language with a medical sense, referring to the sharpness or severity of a symptom. It retains this meaning today, but can also refer to the severity of more general matters, …

In medicine, acute describes severe conditions, illnesses, or injuries that need immediate care:

Acute definition: sharp or severe in effect; intense.. See examples of ACUTE used in a sentence.

An acute illness is one that becomes severe very quickly but does not last very long. Compare chronic.

1. sharp or severe in effect; intense: acute pain. 2. extremely great or serious: an acute shortage of oil. 3. (of disease) brief and severe (disting. from chronic). 4. penetrating in intellect, insight, or …

Definition of acute adjective in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.

acute, adj. & n. meanings, etymology, pronunciation and more in the Oxford English Dictionary