| / English Dictionary |
KEEN
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A funeral lament sung with loud wailing
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("keen" is a kind of...):
coronach; dirge; lament; requiem; threnody (a song or hymn of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person)
Domain region:
Emerald Isle; Hibernia; Ireland (an island comprising the republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland)
Derivation:
keen (express grief verbally)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Having a sharp cutting edge or point
Example:
a keen blade
Classified under:
Similar:
sharp (having or made by a thin edge or sharp point; suitable for cutting or piercing)
Derivation:
keenness (thinness of edge or fineness of point)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Painful as if caused by a sharp instrument
Example:
lancinating pain
Synonyms:
cutting; keen; knifelike; lancinate; lancinating; piercing; stabbing
Classified under:
Similar:
sharp (keenly and painfully felt; as if caused by a sharp edge or point)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Very good
Example:
we had a grand old time
Synonyms:
bang-up; bully; corking; cracking; dandy; great; groovy; keen; neat; nifty; not bad; old; peachy; slap-up; smashing; swell
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
good (having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified)
Domain usage:
colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Intense or sharp
Example:
felt exquisite pleasure
Synonyms:
exquisite; keen
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
intense (possessing or displaying a distinctive feature to a heightened degree)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions
Example:
frequent penetrative observations
Synonyms:
acute; discriminating; incisive; keen; knifelike; penetrating; penetrative; piercing; sharp
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
perceptive (having the ability to perceive or understand; keen in discernment)
Derivation:
keenness (a quick and penetrating intelligence)
III. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they keen ... he / she / it keens
Past simple: keened
Past participle: keened
-ing form: keening
Sense 1
Meaning:
Express grief verbally
Example:
we lamented the death of the child
Synonyms:
keen; lament
Classified under:
Hypernyms (to "keen" is one way to...):
express emotion; express feelings (give verbal or other expression to one's feelings)
"Keen" entails doing...:
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Derivation:
keen (a funeral lament sung with loud wailing)
Context examples:
The keen wind still carried the howling of the dogs, though this grew fainter as we went on our way.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
Declining Sense of Smell May Foretell DeathOlder adults with a poor sense of smell may die sooner than their counterparts who have keen olfactory abilities.
(Declining Sense of Smell Linked to Risk of Death, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
A course between such men would have been enough in itself to cause the keenest interest, apart from its being the crisis which would decide who should be the victors of the day.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Using the keen specificity of antigen recognition by antibodies, targeting selectively localizes antibody-associated reagents to antigen sites for therapeutic or diagnostic effect.
(Antigen Targeting, NCI Thesaurus)
Fanny had been everywhere awake to the difference of the country since February; but when they entered the Park her perceptions and her pleasures were of the keenest sort.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
Perhaps the abilities of women are neither sound nor acute—neither vigorous nor keen.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
How her temper and understanding might bear the investigation of his present keener time of life was another concern and rather a fearful one.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
Holmes smoked hard, with his brows drawn down over his keen eyes, and his head thrust forward in the eager way characteristic of the man.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
But especially I noticed that his chin was always coming round to his shoulder, and that at the end of every round he sent keen little glances flying backwards into the crowd.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Her keenest attention was awakened; she longed to hear more, and was grateful to her uncle for saying: There are very few people of whom so much can be said.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
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