Confusing Words: Acumen (noun), Acuity (noun), and Acuteness (adjective)
Meaning:
Acumen (the ability to make good judgements and take quick decisions.)
Acuity (sharpness or keenness of thought, vision, or hearing.)
Acuteness (the quality of being very good, accurate, and showing an ability to notice very small differences)
Acumen vs Acuity vs Acuteness Clarification: Three of these words, acumen, acuity and acuteness, are used differently but they have slightly same meanings that is why, these words are often get confused.
Acumen vs Acuity vs Acuteness – What is the Difference, Definition & Meanings?
The confusion between acumen, acuity or acuteness is only with the pronunciation and slightly different meanings. In terms of pronunciation, three of these words contain –acu that makes them similar to each other.
May be, people get confused because of the usage of these three words. Three of these words are used as noun in sentences. But each word gives different meanings.
I will give you their definitions and some examples to clear up your confusion because it is very important not to mix them up in your writing.
Definitions and examples of acumen, acuity and acuteness
Acumen
Acumen: It is used as a noun and it is for a particular area or a field. The meaning is taken as a mental sharpness or anyone’s good judgment.
1. He has a flourished business just because he has a good acumen.
2. The inventor lacked the financial acumen to earn money from his inventions. Reference –(softschools.com)
Give acumen a slight difference than acuity and acuteness. Keep it in your mind that acumen is your great ability to give a smart decision in a particular field, like in a business.
Acuity
Acuity: Like acumen, it is used as a noun. It sounds like biological because it is someone’s inner ability to hear, see and get things smartly. It can be someone’s intelligence.
1. Due to a severe injury, his visual acuity is not normal anymore.
2. He gave the answer with great acuity.
3. The doctor was impressed by the child’s acuity with the difficult tasks on the test. Reference –(softschools.com)
Acumen
Unlike acumen and acuity, acute is used as an adjective and acuteness is the noun form of that adjective. You have heard about an acute angle in mathematics. It is a sharp angle which is less than 90 degrees. This shows that acuteness, as a noun, means sharp or sensitive. It is a sensitivity or sharpness of anything (any sense).
1. She always ignores my acuteness of feelings which I don’t like.
2. I was shocked to see the acuteness of a blind man’s other senses.
3. The acuteness of the child’s feelings when her dog died could not be ignored. Reference –(softschools.com)
Got It?
Acumen is related to the mental sharpness while acuity and acuteness can be used broadly. Acuity and acuteness are not only about mental sharpness but it can be about the sensitivity of other senses as well.
It is important to remember that acuteness is a noun which is a form of an adjective ‘acute’.
What Did You Learn?
Three of these words, acumen, acuity and acuteness, are used differently but they have slightly same meanings that is why, these words are often get confused.
Acumen is taken only as a mental sharpness. Acuity and acuteness, on the other side, is the smart ability to hear, see and get things.
I have cleared the confusion between acumen, acuity and acuteness. Learn the usage of these words by heart and be sure not to mix them to ruin your writing.