Word.ws English Dictionary

kene

kene is the obsolete form of keen.

Meaning of keen

Adjective

keen (comparative keener or more keen, superlative keenest or most keen)

  1. (Commonwealth) Often with a prepositional phrase, or with to and an infinitive: showing a quick and ardent responsiveness or willingness; eager, enthusiastic, interested.
    • I’m keen on computers.
    Synonyms:
    ardent, eager, prompt, hot on
  2. Fierce, intense, vehement.
    • This boy has a keen appetite.
  3. Having a fine edge or point; sharp.
    • The tongues of mocking wenches are as keen
      As is the Razors edge, inuisible: […]c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    Synonyms:
    sharp
  4. Acute of mind, having or expressing mental acuteness; penetrating, sharp.
    • For when we rage, aduiſe is often ſeene
      By blunting vs to make our wits more keene.1609, William Shakespeare, “A Louers Complaint”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC
  5. Acrimonious, bitter, piercing.
    • keen satire or sarcasm
    Synonyms:
    biting, cutting, piercing
  6. (usually, wind) Cutting, penetrating, piercing, sharp.
    • a keen wind

See all 15 meanings of keen

Forms of kene

comparativekener
comparativemore kene
superlativekenest
superlativemost kene

Questions about kene

What is kene the obsolete form of?
Kene is the obsolete form of keen.

Words near kene in the dictionary

  1. Kenduskeag
  2. kendyr
  3. kendō
  4. kendōka
  5. kendōkas
  6. kene
  7. Keneally
  8. Keneallys
  9. Kenealy
  10. Kenealys
  11. Kenebri

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: kene (page history and authors); keen (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “kene.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/kene. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.