astute
Clever at understanding things and spotting what is really going on.
astute in a sentence
- The astute detective noticed the muddy footprints that everyone else had walked straight past.
- One astute pupil spotted that the quiz answers were hidden in the poster on the wall.
Try an 11+ style question
Verbal reasoning papers often ask about a word like this.
Which word is closest in meaning to astute?
- Aclever
- Bfoolish
- Csilly
- Dslow
Show the answer
A: clever. The other three mean the opposite of astute.
Which word is most nearly opposite in meaning to astute?
- Asmart
- Bclever
- Csharp
- Dfoolish
Show the answer
D: foolish. The other three mean nearly the same as astute.
Words that mean something similar
clever, sharp, smart
Words that mean the opposite
foolish, silly, slow
More words about thinking & learning
- attentive: Watching and listening carefully.
- authentic: Real and genuine, not fake.
- baffled: So confused that you cannot understand something at all.
- bewildered: Very confused and unsure what is happening.
- blunder: A silly, careless mistake.
- clarify: To make something easier to understand.
- classify: To sort things into groups that are alike.
- competent: Able to do something well enough.
More words to explore
Sitting the 11+ in Kent, Medway or Buckinghamshire?
Plain-English guides to each test, from the councils’ own pages: Kent Test · Medway Test · Bucks Secondary Transfer Test