The difference between Acute and Sharp

When used as nouns, acute means a person who has the acute form of a disorder, such as schizophrenia, whereas sharp means the symbol ♯, placed after the name of a note in the key signature or before a note on the staff to indicate that the note is to be played a semitone higher.

When used as verbs, acute means to give an acute sound to, whereas sharp means to raise the pitch of a note half a step making a natural note a sharp.

When used as adjectives, acute means brief, quick, short, whereas sharp means able to cut easily.


Sharp is also adverb with the meaning: to a point or edge.

check bellow for the other definitions of Acute and Sharp

  1. Acute as an adjective:

    Brief, quick, short.

    Examples:

    "synonyms fast rapid"

    "antonyms leisurely slow"

    "It was an acute event."

  2. Acute as an adjective:

    High or shrill.

    Examples:

    "an acute accent or tone"

  3. Acute as an adjective:

    Intense, sensitive, sharp.

    Examples:

    "synonyms kepowerfustrong"

    "antonyms dulobtuse slow witless"

    "She had an acute sense of honour.  Eagles have very acute vision."

  4. Acute as an adjective:

    Urgent.

    Examples:

    "synonyms emergent pressing suddurgent"

    "His need for medical attention was acute."

  5. Acute as an adjective (botany):

    With the sides meeting directly to form an acute angle (at an apex or base).

    Examples:

    "synonyms obtuse"

  6. Acute as an adjective (geometry):

    Of an angle: less than 90 degrees.

    Examples:

    "antonyms obtuse"

  7. Acute as an adjective (geometry):

    Of a triangle: having all three interior angles measuring less than 90 degrees.

    Examples:

    "synonyms acute-angled"

    "antonyms obtuse obtuse-angled"

  8. Acute as an adjective (linguistics, chiefly, historical):

    Of an accent or tone: generally higher than others.

  9. Acute as an adjective (medicine):

    Of an abnormal condition of recent or sudden onset, in contrast to delayed onset; this sense does not imply severity, unlike the common usage.

    Examples:

    "He dropped dead of an acute illness."

  10. Acute as an adjective (medicine):

    Of a short-lived condition, in contrast to a chronic condition; this sense also does not imply severity.

    Examples:

    "antonyms chronic"

    "The acute symptoms resolved promptly."

  11. Acute as an adjective (orthography):

    After a letter of the alphabet: having an acute accent.

    Examples:

    "The last letter of ‘café’ is ‘e’ acute."

  1. Acute as a noun (medicine):

    A person who has the acute form of a disorder, such as schizophrenia.

  2. Acute as a noun (linguistics, chiefly, historical):

    An accent or tone higher than others.

    Examples:

    "antonyms grave"

  3. Acute as a noun (orthography):

    An acute accent (´).

    Examples:

    "The word ‘cafe’ often has an acute over the ‘e’."

  1. Acute as a verb (transitive, phonetics):

    To give an acute sound to.

    Examples:

    "He acutes his rising inflection too much."

  2. Acute as a verb (transitive, archaic):

    To make acute; to sharpen, to whet.

  1. Sharp as an adjective:

    Able to cut easily.

    Examples:

    "I keep my knives sharp so that they don't slip unexpectedly while carving."

  2. Sharp as an adjective (colloquial):

    Intelligent.

    Examples:

    "My nephew is a sharp lad; he can count to 100 in six languages, and he's only five years old."

  3. Sharp as an adjective:

    Terminating in a point or edge; not obtuse or rounded.

    Examples:

    "Ernest made the pencil too sharp and accidentally stabbed himself with it."

    "a sharp hill;  a face with sharp features"

  4. Sharp as an adjective (music):

    Higher than usual by one semitone (denoted by the symbol after the name of the note).

  5. Sharp as an adjective (music):

    Higher in pitch than required.

    Examples:

    "The orchestra's third violin several times was sharp about an eighth of a tone."

  6. Sharp as an adjective:

    Having an intense, acrid flavour.

    Examples:

    "Milly couldn't stand sharp cheeses when she was pregnant, because they made her nauseated."

  7. Sharp as an adjective:

    Sudden and intense.

    Examples:

    "A pregnant woman during labor normally experiences a number of sharp contractions."

  8. Sharp as an adjective (colloquial):

    Illegal or dishonest.

    Examples:

    "Michael had a number of sharp ventures that he kept off the books."

  9. Sharp as an adjective (colloquial):

    Keenly or unduly attentive to one's own interests; shrewd.

    Examples:

    "a sharp dealer;  a sharp customer"

  10. Sharp as an adjective:

    Exact, precise, accurate; keen.

    Examples:

    "You'll need sharp aim to make that shot."

  11. Sharp as an adjective:

    Offensive, critical, or acrimonious.

    Examples:

    "'sharp criticism; When the two rivals met, first there were sharp words, and then a fight broke out."

  12. Sharp as an adjective (colloquial):

    Stylish or attractive.

    Examples:

    "You look so sharp in that tuxedo!"

  13. Sharp as an adjective:

    Observant; alert; acute.

    Examples:

    "Keep a sharp watch on the prisoners. I don't want them to escape!"

  14. Sharp as an adjective:

    Forming a small angle; forming an angle of less than ninety degrees.

    Examples:

    "Drive down Main for three quarters of a mile, then make a sharp right turn onto Pine."

  15. Sharp as an adjective:

    Steep; precipitous; abrupt.

    Examples:

    "a sharp ascent or descent;  a sharp turn or curve"

  16. Sharp as an adjective (mathematics, of a statement):

    Said of as extreme a value as possible.

    Examples:

    "Sure, any planar graph can be five-colored. But that result is not sharp: in fact, any planar graph can be four-colored. ''That'' is sharp: the same can't be said for any lower number."

  17. Sharp as an adjective (chess):

    Tactical; risky.

  18. Sharp as an adjective:

    Piercing; keen; severe; painful.

    Examples:

    "a sharp pain;  the sharp and frosty winter air"

  19. Sharp as an adjective:

    Eager or keen in pursuit; impatient for gratification.

    Examples:

    "a sharp appetite"

  20. Sharp as an adjective (obsolete):

    Fierce; ardent; fiery; violent; impetuous.

  21. Sharp as an adjective:

    Composed of hard, angular grains; gritty.

  22. Sharp as an adjective (phonetics, dated):

    Uttered in a whisper, or with the breath alone; aspirated; unvoiced.

  1. Sharp as an adverb:

    To a point or edge; piercingly; eagerly; sharply.

    Examples:

    "rfquotek M. Arnold"

  2. Sharp as an adverb (notcomp):

    Exactly.

    Examples:

    "I'll see you at twelve o'clock sharp."

  3. Sharp as an adverb (music):

    In a higher pitch than is correct or desirable.

    Examples:

    "I didn't enjoy the concert much because the tenor kept going sharp on the high notes."

  1. Sharp as a noun (music):

    The symbol ♯, placed after the name of a note in the key signature or before a note on the staff to indicate that the note is to be played a semitone higher.

    Examples:

    "The pitch pipe sounded out a perfect F♯ (F sharp)."

    "Transposition frequently is harder to read because of all the sharps and flats on the staff."

  2. Sharp as a noun (music):

    A note that is played a semitone higher than usual; denoted by the name of the note that is followed by the symbol ♯.

  3. Sharp as a noun (music):

    A note that is sharp in a particular key.

    Examples:

    "The piece was difficult to read after it had been transposed, since in the new key many notes were sharps."

  4. Sharp as a noun (music):

    The scale having a particular sharp note as its tonic.

    Examples:

    "Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" is written in C♯ minor (C sharp minor.)"

  5. Sharp as a noun (usually, _, in the plural):

    Something that is sharp.

    Examples:

    "Place sharps in the specially marked red container for safe disposal."

  6. Sharp as a noun:

    A sharp tool or weapon.

  7. Sharp as a noun (medicine):

    A hypodermic syringe.

  8. Sharp as a noun (medicine, dated):

    A scalpel or other edged instrument used in surgery.

  9. Sharp as a noun:

    A dishonest person; a cheater.

    Examples:

    "The casino kept in the break room a set of pictures of known sharps for the bouncers to see."

    "This usage is often classified as variant spelling of ''[[shark]]'', and unrelated to the 'pointed' or 'cutting' meanings of ''sharp''."

  10. Sharp as a noun:

    Part of a stream where the water runs very rapidly.

    Examples:

    "rfquotek Charles Kingsley"

  11. Sharp as a noun:

    A sewing needle with a very slender point, more pointed than a blunt or a between.

  12. Sharp as a noun (in the plural):

    Fine particles of husk mixed with coarse particle of flour of cereals; middlings.

  13. Sharp as a noun (slang, dated):

    An expert.

  14. Sharp as a noun:

    A sharpie (member of Australian gangs of the 1960s and 1970s).

  1. Sharp as a verb (music):

    To raise the pitch of a note half a step making a natural note a sharp.

    Examples:

    "That new musician must be tone deaf: he sharped half the notes of the song!"

  2. Sharp as a verb:

    To play tricks in bargaining; to act the sharper.

    Examples:

    "rfquotek L'Estrange"