Definition of: sagacious

(sə·gā′shəs) adjective
1. Ready and apt to apprehend and to decide on a course.
2. Characterized by discernment, shrewdness, and wisdom.
3. Quick of scent, as a hound. [<L sagax, sagacis wise, foreseeing]
—sa·ga′cious·ly adverb
—sa·ga′cious·ness noun Synonyms: able, acute, apt, clear-sighted, discerning, intelligent, judicious, keen, keen-sighted, keen-witted, perspicacious, quick-witted, rational, sage, sensible, sharp, sharp-witted, shrewd, wise. Sagacious refers to a power of tracing the hidden or recondite by slight indications, as by instinct or intuition; with reference to inferior animals it is often applied to special keenness of sense-perception as of a hound in following a trail. In human affairs sagacious refers to a power of ready, far-reaching, an accurate inference from observed facts, perhaps in themselves very slight, that seems like a special sense; or to a similar readiness to foresee the results of any action, a kind of prophetic common sense, especially upon human motives or conduct. Sagacious is a broader word than shrewd, and not capable of the invidious sense which the latter often bears; on the other hand, sagacious is less lofty than wise in its full sense, and more limited to practical matters. See ACUTE, ASTUTE, KNOWING, POLITIC, WISE¹. Antonyms: absurd, dull, foolish, futile, ignorant, irrational, obtuse, senseless, silly, simple, sottish, stupid, unintelligent.