Skip to content
GREMockTests
GRE vocabulary

perspicacious

adjectiveHigh-frequency wordMore P words

having keen insight and sharp understanding

Word origin: From Latin perspicax, sharp-sighted, from perspicere, to see through.

Start a free GRE mock test 39 minutes · free · instant score
In a sentence

Perspicacious in a sentence

Here are example sentences showing perspicacious in a sentence.

Her perspicacious analysis caught a flaw everyone else had missed.

A perspicacious editor, she spotted the flaw in the argument that three reviewers had missed.

Antonyms
obtuseundiscerningdull

Quick GRE check

Question 1 of 3

3 questions, about 2 minutes. How would you do on the real test?

Verbal · Sentence Equivalence

Modern editors have softened many passages that earlier audiences accepted without protest, finding blank what their grandparents had regarded as merely robust and good-humored.

Select the two answers that give the sentence the same meaning. 0 of 2 selected.

Usage & nuance

Using “perspicacious” well

Perspicacious praises sharp mental insight. Distinguish it from perspicuous, which means clearly expressed and applies to writing, not the reader.

Common questions

Questions about “perspicacious”

Perspicacious (adjective) means having keen insight and sharp understanding
Here is perspicacious used in an example sentence: "Her perspicacious analysis caught a flaw everyone else had missed." Another example: "A perspicacious editor, she spotted the flaw in the argument that three reviewers had missed."
Common synonyms for perspicacious include astute, discerning, shrewd, sagacious.
Antonyms of perspicacious include obtuse, undiscerning, dull.
Pair perspicacious with astute, discerning, shrewd, and sagacious in Sentence Equivalence, opposing obtuse, undiscerning, and dull.
Yes. Perspicacious is a high-frequency GRE word, so it is worth prioritising as you build your vocabulary.

See these words the way the GRE tests them.

Take the free 39-minute GRE Quick Mock Test and meet words like this inside real Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence questions, with a worked solution for every answer.