Sagacious

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /səˈɡeɪʃəs/

Definitions

1. Having or showing keen mental discernment, sound judgment, and farsightedness in practical matters
2. Possessing a great capacity for discernment, exhibiting wisdom and practical insight, and demonstrating sound judgment in decision-making
3. Characterized by a sharp intellect and the ability to make wise choices, along with a profound understanding of complex situations

Etymology: "Sagacious" entered English in the first decade of the 1600s, borrowed from the Latin adjective "sagax," which described keen perception, especially of smell. Latin "sagax" is related to "sagire," to perceive quickly or acutely, and the word originally suggested a sharpness of the senses before it came to mean sharpness of mind. A hunting dog that could track a scent through difficult ground was "sagax," and that image of the nose doing the work carried over into the sense of a mind that catches the important detail. The English word is built from that Latin base plus the suffix "-acious," which English took from Latin "-ax" (genitive "-acis") and used to form adjectives meaning "full of" or "given to" a quality, as in "tenacious" and "audacious." So "sagacious" combines the idea of keen perception with a suffix that marks a tendency. Its meaning settled on wisdom joined with shrewd judgment, the ability to see past appearances to what matters.

Synonyms: wise, insightful, perceptive, shrewd, astute

Antonyms: foolish, ignorant, naive, unwise, imprudent