Perspicacious

 WORD OF THE DAY

perspicacious / adjective / per-spuh-KAY-shus

Definition
1a: of acute mental vision or discernment
1b: keen

Examples
“Some of the film’s performances are merely peculiar and others merely apt, but [actor Don] Cheadle is thrilling, with coiled strength and a perspicacious gaze that seems to realize ideas in motion.”
— Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 1 July 2021

As some of the nation’s most perspicacious observers have noted, self-regulation is a crucial component of fixing what’s wrong with social media.
—  Gilad Edelman, Wired, 30 Sep. 2021

Did You Know?
Some perspective on perspicacious: the word combines the Latin perspicac- (from perspicax meaning “clear-sighted,” which in turn comes from perspicere, “to see through”) with the common English adjective suffix -ious.
The result is a somewhat uncommon word used to describe someone (such as a reader or observer) or something (such as an essay or analysis) displaying the perception and understanding of subtleties others tend to miss, such as the distinctions between the words perspicacious, shrewd, sagacious, and astute—something our synonym chooser can help with.