Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use astute in a sentence

18 example sentences · adjective

Astute means quickly and critically discerning. Example: “Astute businessman though he was, my brother was capable of extreme recklessness.”

Examples of astute by meaning

adjectiveShrewd or crafty.

  • The best headteachers are like submarine captains – cool-headed, astute decision-makers – who trust their colleagues and surroundings to indicate where their ship is headed.23 September 2014, A teacher, “Choosing a primary school: a teacher's guide for parents”, in The Guardian

More sentences with astute

  • Astute businessman though he was, my brother was capable of extreme recklessness.From the entry though
  • At present Joseph Stalin, astute, sagaciously “conservative,” has seen fit to squelch such activities.1926 November 8, “Flame but no Fire”, in Time. From the entry sagaciously
  • Alfred Inglethorp that astute gentleman would have—in your so expressive idiom—‘smelt a rat’!1920, Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, London: Pan Books, published 1954, page 178. From the entry smell a rat
  • I liked my very tall Aspieish doctor, loved his deep monotone and astute attention to detail and naturally, his pragmatic advice.2012, Liane Holliday Willey, Safety Skills for Asperger Women: How to Save a Perfectly Good Female Life, Jessica Kingsley, →ISBN, page 105. From the entry Aspieish
  • This is funny, astute, cynical and soundbitey all at once.2009, Damien Broderick, Unleashing the Strange. From the entry soundbitey
  • It's only natural that those drawn to the web are also drawn to people who are quick-witted, perceptive and astute.1999, Susan Rabin, Barbara J. Lagowski, Cyberflirt: how to attract anyone, anywhere on the World Wide Web. From the entry techie
  • "On the Disney side--remember these people own a movie studio, cable TVvhannels and ABC--there's plenty of people who are technicall astute.1998 March 10, Tripp1901, “Disney Buying Apple Computers???”, in alt.disney.disneyland (Usenet), retrieved 19 Jul 2022. From the entry Mouse Kingdom
  • Robert Maheu, tough, astute, dynamic, was the perfect professional to implement the CIA scheme to tweep Fidel Castro.1997, William B. Breuer, Vendetta!: Fidel Castro and the Kennedy Brothers, John Wiley, →ISBN. From the entry tweep
  • An astute manager will have a table or two set aside for important regular customers or demanding walk-ins.1996, Kazuo Nishiyama, Welcoming the Japanese visitor: insights, tips, tactics, page 85. From the entry walk-in
  • In these pages, an astute Sherlock Holmesian character solves all kinds of mysteries with help from a somewhat inept Dr.1984 August 21, Deborah H. Williams, “Storytime”, in The Evening Press, Binghamton, N.Y., page 1C, column 1. From the entry Dr. Watsonish
  • In the past, physicians and vaccine producers were remarkably flexible and politically astute when making claims about vaccine safety or responding to anti-vaccinationists.2019 December 10, Tess Lanzarotta, “How to beat anti-vaxxers at their own game”, in The Washington Post. From the entry anti-vaccinationist
  • He is also an astute ANC insider who spent ten years on Robben Island alongside Nelson Mandela and the other “grandees” of the movement.2007 December 19, Jonathan Clayton, “Profile: Zuma charmed wives and a nation”, in Times of London, UK. From the entry insider
  • Moreover, the judges, having announced a technical rule and having discovered that it worked badly, were astute to discover a remedy in some countertechnicality.1961, Walter Barton Leach, James K. Logan, Cases and Text on Future Interests and Estate Planning, page 179. From the entry countertechnicality
  • Benny Green Trio (through Saturday) The pianist Benny Green is an astute pupil of the hardbop tradition, as he reconfirms on his fine new album, “Live in Santa Cruz.”2015 June 25, “Jazz Listings for June 26-July 2”, in New York Times. From the entry hardbop
  • Stuart Schram, one of Mao Zedong's most astute analysts, argued that Maoism's characteristic faith in thought reform was born of the CCP's dependence on rootless wanderers with questionable loyalties.2012, Aminda M. Smith, Thought Reform and China's Dangerous Classes, page 1. From the entry thought reform
  • Butterbean has been appearing on legitimate boxing cards for years and has, with Dore's astute maneuvering, made a million bucks boxing in four-rounders over the years.2001, Lindy Lindell, Metro Detroit Boxing, page 97. From the entry rounder
  • When the astute sultan heard of this, he sent persons to the Rani with a view to inducing her to forseek her design, and thus averted a clash.1968, Madhya Pradesh (India), V. S. Krishnan, Madhya Pradesh district gazetteers. From the entry forseek

Meaning of astute

  1. adjective Quickly and critically discerning.
  2. adjective Shrewd or crafty.

Full definition of astute

Questions about astute in a sentence

How do you use astute in a sentence?
Astute is used as an adjective. For example: “Astute businessman though he was, my brother was capable of extreme recklessness.”
What is a short sentence with astute?
“This is funny, astute, cynical and soundbitey all at once.”
What does astute mean?
Astute means quickly and critically discerning.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: astute (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this page: “How to use astute in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/astute. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.