From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishastuteas‧tute /əˈstjuːt $ əˈstuːt/ ●○○ adjective INTELLIGENTable to understand situations or behaviour very well and very quickly, especially so that you can get an advantage for yourself SYN clever an astute politician astute investments —astutely adverb —astuteness noun [uncountable]
Examples from the Corpus
astute• They would think me, if not a genius, then at least astute.• The President's wife is often politically astute, ambitious and very influential in White House policy decisions.• It always annoys me so much the way you girls trot it out like you're saying something so astute and revealing.• An astute businessman and virtual workaholic, he has his finger in more proverbial puddings than Little Jack Horner.• Each of our senses is a remarkably astute censor.• The scale of the riots seemed to surprise even the most astute commentators.• an astute judge of talent• astute management• Under the surface of an everyday conversation a duel of two astute minds was taking place.• Will they have an astute sense of time, space, design, proportion, ratio, and the like?• Morgan was surprised at how astute she was. "How did you know that?" he asked.• Barley is much too astute to state this baldly, but it informs his every strategy as author.• And even the more astute types, such as Safire, may have their gumshoes pointed up the wrong alleys.Origin astute (1600-1700) Latin astutus, from astus “skill” 