having or experiencing a rapid onset and short but severe course; "acute appendicitis"; "the acute phase of the illness"; "acute patients"
of critical importance and consequence; "an acute (or critical) lack of research funds"
extremely sharp or intense; "acute pain"; "felt acute annoyance"; "intense itching and burning"
having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions; "an acute observer of politics and politicians"; "incisive comments"; "icy knifelike reasoning"; "as sharp and incisive as the stroke of a fang"; "penetrating insight"; "frequent penetrative observations"
concise and full of meaning; "welcomed her pithy comments"; "the peculiarly sardonic and sententious style in which Don Luis composed his epigrams"- Hervey Allen
bearing a stress or accent; "an iambic foot consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable as in `delay'"
suffering severe physical strain or distress; "he dropped out of the race, clearly distressed and having difficulty breathing"; "the victim was in a bad way and needed immediate attention"
(of business) not active or brisk; "business is dull (or slow)"; "a sluggish market"
emitting or reflecting very little light; "a dull glow"; "dull silver badly in need of a polish"; "a dull sky"
(of color) very low in saturation; highly diluted; "dull greens and blues"
darkened with overcast; "a dark day"; "a dull sky"; "a grey rainy afternoon"; "grey clouds"; "the sky was leaden and thick"
not having a sharp edge or point; "the knife was too dull to be of any use"
not keenly felt; "a dull throbbing"; "dull pain"
lacking in liveliness or animation; "he was so dull at parties"; "a dull political campaign"; "a large dull impassive man"; "dull days with nothing to do"; "how dull and dreary the world is"; "fell back into one of her dull moods"
being or made softer or less loud or clear; "the dull boom of distant breaking waves"; "muffled drums"; "the muffled noises of the street"; "muted trumpets"
not clear and resonant; sounding as if striking with or against something relatively soft; "the dull thud"; "thudding bullets"
blunted in responsiveness or sensibility; "a dull gaze"; "so exhausted she was dull to what went on about her"- Willa Cather
make less lively or vigorous; "Middle age dulled her appetite for travel"
become dull or lusterless in appearance; lose shine or brightness; "the varnished table top dulled with time"
make dull in appearance; "Age had dulled the surface"
make dull or blunt; "Too much cutting dulls the knife's edge"
cool (hot metal) by plunging into cold water or other liquid; "quench steel"
reduce the degree of (luminescence or phosphorescence) in (excited molecules or a material) by adding a suitable substance
satisfy (thirst); "The cold water quenched his thirst"
electronics: suppress (sparking) when the current is cut off in an inductive circuit, or suppress (an oscillation or discharge) in a component or device
obvious to the eye or mind; "a tower conspicuous at a great distance"; "wore conspicuous neckties"; "made herself conspicuous by her exhibitionistic preening"
deep and harsh sounding as if from shouting or illness or emotion; "gruff voices"; "the dog's gruff barking"; "hoarse cries"; "makes all the instruments sound powerful but husky"- Virgil Thomson