acutely, adv.
(əˈkjuːtlɪ)
[f. acute a. + -ly2.]
In an acute or sharp manner; hence
1. Of things material: Sharply. (Late in this sense.)
| 1874 Boutell Arms & Armour viii. 128 Having the acutely-peaked visor or mesail lowered and closed. Ibid. x. 196 Acutely pointed at the toe. |
2. Of senses and feelings: Keenly, delicately; sharply, poignantly.
| 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. xii. (C.D. ed.) 89 Acutely felt by one so sensitive as Nicholas. 1842 Macaulay Fredk. Gt. 58 The sore places where sarcasm would be most acutely felt. |
3. Of the mental faculties: With ready or quick apprehension, with keen penetration, shrewdly.
| 1601 Shakes. All's Well i. i. 221, I am so full of businesses, I cannot answere thee acutely. 1673 Lady's Calling i. §4. 30 Some new comer perhaps has better refined the art, and do's the same thing more acutely and ingeniously. 1756–82 J. Warton Ess. on Pope II. §12. 282, A line which Bentley has explained very acutely. 1864 Burton Scot Abroad II. ii. 158 The project was acutely conceived. |