All 3 Uses of
acute
in
The Lovely Bones
- The dead are never exactly seen by the living, but many people seem acutely aware of something changed around them.
Chpt 3 *acutely = highly (in a manner showing high perceptiveness)
- Ruth had to be driven to the symposium because that morning, when the bus was leaving, she was still at home with an acute attack of gastritis.
Chpt 10 *acute = severe (with rapid onset)
- At school that day she had been acutely aware of what day it was and even though what she had done so far—lain in bed reading The Bell Jar, helped her mother clean out what her father insisted on calling his toolshed and what she thought of as the poetry shed, and tagged along to the grocery store—hadn't consisted of anything that might mark the anniversary of my death, she had been determined to do something.†
Chpt 16
Definitions:
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(1)
(acute as in: acute pain) sharp (severe or strong) -- usually negative
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(2)
(acute as in: acute sense of smell) sharp (highly perceptive in some area or mentally sharp)
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(3)
(acute angle as in: an acute angle) ending in a narrow point or angle; or describing an angle measuring less than 90 degrees