having or covered with protective barbs or quills or spines or thorns or setae etc.; "a horse with a short bristly mane"; "bristly shrubs"; "burred fruits"; "setaceous whiskers"
capable of wounding; "a barbed compliment"; "a biting aphorism"; "pungent satire"
having a horn or horns or hornlike parts or horns of a particular kind; "horned viper"; "great horned owl"; "the unicorn--a mythical horned beast"; "long-horned cattle"
direct and obvious in meaning or reference; often unpleasant; "a pointed critique"; "a pointed allusion to what was going on"; "another pointed look in their direction"
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"