Dictionary

acumen en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /əˈkjuːmən/ (UK)
• /ˈækjəˌmɛn/ (US, rare)
• /æˈkjumən/ (US, rare)
• /əˈkjumən/ (US, uncommon)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈækjəmən/ (US)
• /ˈækjʊmən/ (UK)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin acūmen (“sharp point”).

Meanings

1. (uncountable, usually) Quickness of perception or discernment; penetration of mind; the faculty of nice discrimination; acuity of mind.
   • No, no, my dear Watson! With all respect for your natural acumen, I do not think that you are quite a match for the worthy doctor. 1905, Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter”, in The Return of Sherlock Holmes:
   • "I am going to ask you a question that does not require much legal acumen to answer," said Lord Meersbrook to his attorney, when he called the next day in Lincoln's Inn;... 1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXXVII, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 168:
   • [A]s [US president Donald Trump] turns up the pressure – calling the Fed chair [Jerome Powell] names and questioning his acumen – he’s ignited a firestorm in legal and financial circles. 2025 April 21, Laurent Belsie, “Markets falter as Trump attacks Fed’s independence – and its chair”, in The Christian Science Monitor:
   • Why do you think he removes their skins, Agent Starling? Enthrall me with your acumen. 1991, Ted Tally, The Silence of the Lambs (motion picture), spoken by Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins):
   • Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke.[…]A silver snaffle on a heavy leather watch guard which connected the pockets of his corduroy waistcoat, together with a huge gold stirrup in his Ascot tie, sufficiently proclaimed his tastes.[…]But withal there was a perceptible acumen about the man which was puzzling in the extreme. 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
2. (uncountable, usually) A sharp, tapering point extending from a plant.
   • They examined the characters that were used by Paris (1908) to distinguish C. japonicum Broth. ex Paris from C. tonkinense: “Les charactères invoqués par Paris [Rev. Bryol., p. 46, 1908) pour distinguer la plante du Tonkin de celle du Japon s’évanouissent à l’examen, …”, and stated that the acumina of the leaves are narrower, and that those of the amphigastria are narrower and longer in C. japonicum Broth. ex Paris than in C. tonkinense. 2002, Blumea Supplement, page 327:
   • 11. S. boyacense. Resembles S. Rybinii from which it is distinguished by the greater dissection of the leaves, the longer calyx acumens, smaller anthers and coloured corolla. 1956, S.M. Bukasov, Translation of THEORETICAL BASES OF PLAN BREEDING, page 6:
   • Herbs with long creeping stolons; leaves with coarse white hairs, or glabrous. The arched corolla lobes and large acumens give the corolla a circular appearance with acumens standing out sharply from it. Corolla occasionally, however, substellate. 1978, chapter 2, in The Potato Crop: The scientific basis for improvement, →ISBN, page 30:
   • In our opinion, specimens of I. pilifera represent a robust expression of I. sinensis with many stem and branch leaves becoming strongly concave and broadly ovate to obovate in outline, thereby intensifying the abrupt contraction of the pilaferous acumens. It is best accepted as a variety of N. comes. The length of leaf acumens is another variable character expressed by Barbella amoena. Thus, it is also better combined with the var. pilifera as a synonym. 1990, Cryptogamic Botany, Volume 2, page 315:
   • Finally, the acumina of all the narrowly lanceolate leaves of both species tend to be straight rather than curved. 1960, Svensk botanisk tidskrift, page 385:
   • […] the stem leaves lack recurved serrations on the margins, the acumina of the branch leaves are usually distinctly dentate. 1986, The Journal of the Hattori Botanical Laboratory, page 449:
   • The black star of the corolla, characteristic of the original form, the manyfloweredness of the inflorescence (often connected with [3]—4 whirls), upper leaves in the inflorescence, adpression of the acumina of the calyx, its size, the closely situated anthers, long pistils, the length of the pedicel above and below the articulation and the thickness of the pedicel dominate. 1930, Prilozhenie, page 519:
3. (uncountable, usually) A bony, often sharp, protuberance, especially that of the ischium.
   • The rostrum is the anterior extension of the carapace between the eyes. It ends in a more or less acute tip, or acumen, and may have a lateral spine on each side or bear a longitudinal keel (carina) on the dorsal surface. c. 1918, University of California, Pamphlets on Biology: Kofoid collection, Volume 1586, page 692:
   • DIAGNOSIS—Rostrum usually with marginal spines, tubercles, or angles at base of acumen, and rarely with low medina carina. 1981, Horton Holcombe Hobbs, The Crayfishes of Georgia: Issue 318 of Smithsonian contributions to zoology, Smithsonian Institution, page 486:
   • Variations.—Most specimens examined have concave rostral margins that taper to the acumen and the rostral length is greater than the rostral width. 1993, Biological Society of Washington, Smithsonian Institution, Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, Volume 106, page 351:

Forms

Synonyms

shrewdness · canniness · acuity · acuteness · wits · foxiness · keenness · penetration · intelligence · sharpness

Translations (42)

pt perspicácia (quickness of perception) · fi terävä-älyisyys (quickness of perception) · it acume (quickness of perception) · pt sagacidade (quickness of perception) · nl inzicht (quickness of perception) · pl przenikliwość (quickness of perception) · ca acumen (sharp, tapering point) · is skörp greind (quickness of perception) · is skarpur skilningur (quickness of perception) · fi terävyys (quickness of perception) · cs bystrost (quickness of perception) · da skarpsind (quickness of perception) · cmn 慧眼 (quickness of perception) · pl bystrość (quickness of perception) · da skarpsindighed (quickness of perception) · ja 聡明さ (quickness of perception) · is viðskiptavit (quickness of perception) · is skerpa (quickness of perception) · es acumen (quickness of perception) · bg проницателност (quickness of perception) · es pesquis (quickness of perception) · ja 洞察力 (quickness of perception) · sv skarpsinnighet (quickness of perception) · bg прозорливост (quickness of perception) · sv skarpsinne (quickness of perception) · de Scharfsinn (quickness of perception) · ca perspicàcia (quickness of perception) · cmn 精明 (quickness of perception) · is skarpskyggni (quickness of perception) · ja 慧眼 (quickness of perception) · fi äly (quickness of perception) · ru сообрази́тельность (quickness of perception) · nl scherpzinnigheid (quickness of perception) · it perspicacia (quickness of perception) · es cacumen (quickness of perception) · es perspicacia (quickness of perception) · eo sagaceco (quickness of perception) · ru проница́тельность (quickness of perception) · pt agudeza (quickness of perception) · fr sagacité (quickness of perception) · ru прозорли́вость (quickness of perception) · cmn 敏銳 /敏锐 (quickness of perception)