1. (n.) The quality of being acute or pointed; sharpness; as, the acuteness of an angle.

2. (n.) The faculty of nice discernment or perception; acumen; keenness; sharpness; sensitiveness; -- applied to the senses, or the understanding. By acuteness of feeling, we perceive small objects or slight impressions: by acuteness of intellect, we discern nice distinctions.

3. (n.) Shrillness; high pitch; -- said of sounds.

4. (n.) Violence of a disease, which brings it speedily to a crisis.

acerbity acidity acidness acidulousness acridness acrimony acuity acumination acuteness asperity astringence astringency bite bitingness bitter pill bitterness causticity causticness corrosiveness cuttingness edge fierceness gall gall and wormwood grip harshness incisiveness keenness mordacity mordancy mucronation piercingness piquancy poignancy point pointedness prickliness pungency rigor roughness severity sharpness sourness spinosity stabbingness sting stridency stringency tartness teeth thorniness trenchancy vehemence violence virulence