Dictionary

quick-sighted en · ADJ

Etymology

From quick + sighted.

Meanings

1. Having keen vision.
   • The quick-sighted hawk saw the small mouse from a great height.
2. Keenly perceptive.
   • She ſoon perceived theſe Agitations of Mind in Jones, and was at no Loſs to diſcover the Cauſe; for indeed ſhe recognized it in her own Breaſt. And this Recognition is, I ſuppoſe, that Sympathy which hath been ſo often noted in Lovers, and which will ſufficiently account for her being ſo much quicker-ſighted than her Father. 1749, Henry Fielding, “By Comparing Which with the Former, the Reader May Possibly Correct Some Abuse Which He Hath Formerly Been Guilty of, in the Application of the Word Love”, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume II, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book V, pages 159–160:
   • She loved every body, was interested in every body’s happiness, quick-sighted to every body’s merits; thought herself a most fortunate creature, and surrounded with blessings in such an excellent mother and so many good neighbours and friends, and a home that wanted for nothing. 1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter III, in Emma: […], volume I, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC, page 37:
   • Gold is a ſutor, neuer tooke repulſe, […] It thawes the froſtieſt, and moſt ſtiffe diſdaine: / Muffles the clearneſſe of Election, / Straines fancie vnto foule Apoſtacie, / And ſtrikes the quickeſt-ſighted Iudgement blinde. 1600, B[en] Jonson, “Riches. Description of Mammon.”, in R[obert] A[llot], compiler, Englands Parnassus: or The Choysest Flowers of Our Moderne Poets, with Their Poeticall Comparisons. […], London: […] [F]or N[icholas] L[ing,] C[uthbert] B[urby] and Th[omas] Hayes, →OCLC, page 258:
   • She talks vastly well; I am afraid of being ungenerous, or I should say, too well to feel so very deeply; but I will not look for faults; she may be Reginald’s wife! Heaven forbid it! but why should I be quicker-sighted than anyone else? Mr. Vernon declares that he never saw deeper distress than hers, on the receipt of the letter; and is his judgment inferior to mine? c. 1794, Jane Austen, “[Lady Susan.] XV. Mrs. Vernon to Lady De Courcy.”, in J[ames] E[dward] Austen[-]Leigh, A Memoir of Jane Austen: […] to which is Added Lady Susan and Fragments of Two Other Unfinished Tales by Miss Austen, 2nd edition, London: Richard Bentley and Son, […], published 1871, →OCLC, page 233:

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