Make Your Point > Archived Issues > SAGACIOUS

Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.

pronounce SAGACIOUS: Say it "suh GAY shuss." To hear it, click here. connect this word to others: When you think of Sherlock Holmes, think of the word sagacious. Someone sagacious is quick on the uptake. Smart. Keen. Shrewd. Insightful. Able to sniff out the truth, fast. Perspi_______ (sharp, wise, and observant). Percip____ (quick to notice and understand everything, especially tiny differences between things). Could you recall those synonyms with the blanks?  (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) definition: In Latin, sagax means "quick, smart, shrewd, and perceptive." That's also what "sagacious" means in English. We often apply "sagacious" (and the noun, "sagacity") to the sense of smell. For example, a hunting dog with a sagacious nose (or a sagacity of smell) can sniff out the quarry, fast. So, let's define "sagacious" like this: smart in a quick, practical way, like a hunting dog who can quickly sniff out a correct trail. grammatical bits: Part of speech: Adjective: "a sagacious leader;" "He's kind and sagacious." Other forms:  Sagaciously, sagacity ("suh GAS uh tee"). how to use it: "Sagacious" is a serious, semi-common word, great for striking a formal tone as you describe someone with very practical intelligence: someone who can't be easily fooled, or someone who sniffs out the truth easily. You might talk about sagacious people and characters; sagacious comments and writing; sagacious moves and decisions; someone's sagacious wit, mind, or reputation; a sagacious sense of timing, etc. examples: "There was, in this performance, not even a hint of the sagacity one expects from a potential Supreme Court Justice."    — Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 27 September 2018 "Surrounded by dark wood, seated in a cushy chair, his fingers steepled and his gray hair brushed back, sits a sagacious Clarence Avant... He unequivocally states: 'Life is about one thing: numbers. Nothing else.'"    — Dream McClinton, The Guardian, 12 June 2019    has this page helped you understand "sagacious"? Awesome, I'm glad it helped! Thanks for letting me know! If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. study it: Explain the meaning of "sagacious" without saying "keen" or "savvy." try it out: Although we often use "sagacious" seriously, it's great for sarcasm, too. Fill in the blank: "These are the same sagacious people who (do or say something stupid)." Example 1: "These are the same sagacious people who, despite being Canadians in Canada, tried to claim protection under a US law." Example 2: "The Nats also have the league's reigning MVP, Bryce Harper. Some people ask, 'Will Harper even get hot again or was last season just a fluke?' These are the same sagacious people to whom I'd like to sell a large, valuable but invisible bridge to which I own the exclusive rights."    — Thomas Boswell, Washington Post, 13 July 2016 If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.) before you review, play: Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out. Our game for this month is MYP Wordles! You're likely familiar with the popular new game Wordle, created by Josh Wardle and recently purchased by the New York Times. You can play the real Wordle each day here. It's fun, simple, and addictive. You try to guess the five-letter word. Each time you guess, you see how close you are: a green box means you've gotten the right letter in the right spot; a yellow box means you've gotten a letter that's in the word but in the wrong spot; a gray box means you've guessed a letter that isn't in the word at all.  There's only one real Wordle every day. But luckily for us, the good folks at StriveMath.com have created a copycat Wordle tool, so you can play as many Wordles as you want, and even create and share your own. So, in each issue this month, try the MYP Wordle linked below. The answer will be a word we've studied. I'll give a series of hints that you can reveal if you choose to. If you can't figure out the answer, you can let the puzzle reveal it, or you can scroll all the way down. Enjoy! Click here to play today's MYP Wordle. If you need some hints, highlight the hidden white text below.    The letter it starts with is… T    The vowels it includes are… Y    The part of speech is… noun    The definition is… any brief encounter or meeting that reminds you of a sneaky, secret meeting between lovers review this word: 1. Opposites of SAGACIOUS include A. CALM and TRANQUIL. B. PLUMP and WELL-FED. C. SLOW-WITTED and GULLIBLE. 2. Luke Hopping wrote, "_____ introduced the beard as an indispensable part of Western society's conceptualization of the sagacious _____." A. Sean Connery .. hero B. Socrates .. philosopher C. Ernest Hemingway .. drinker Answers to the review questions: 1. C 2. B Answer to the MYP Wordle: Tryst. a final word: I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.