perspicacity
Keen mental penetration
Perspicacity is keenness of mental perception—the ability to notice and understand things that others miss.
Someone with perspicacity sees through confusion, detects subtle patterns, or grasps the true nature of a situation: Her perspicacity in reading people made her an excellent judge of character.
The word is formal and somewhat literary; the adjective perspicacious describes the person who possesses it.
Keen practical judgment
- astutenessShrewd perceptiveness
- sagacityPenetrating mental acuity
- keennessSharpness of perception
- canninessShrewd practical intelligence
sharpness · acuity · wit · cleverness · intelligence · smartness · brilliance · quick-wittedness
Good judgment from experience
- discriminationUnjust differential treatment
- discretionCareful judgment in speech
- sagacityPenetrating mental acuity
- assessmentFormal evaluation of worth
evaluation · appraisal · discernment · prudence · sense · reasoning · weighing · deliberation
Mental interpretation of stimuli
- understandingMental comprehension of something
- discernmentKeen perception and judgment
- penetrationEntry into something
- perceptivenessAbility to notice subtleties
intuition · foresight · apprehension · cognizance · awareness · comprehension · grasp · realization
shrewdness
Keen practical judgment
- astutenessShrewd perceptiveness
- sagacityPenetrating mental acuity
- keennessSharpness of perception
canniness · sharpness · acuity · wit · cleverness · intelligence · smartness · brilliance · quick-wittedness · incisiveness
wisdom
Good judgment from experience
- discriminationUnjust differential treatment
- discretionCareful judgment in speech
- sagacityPenetrating mental acuity
assessment · evaluation · appraisal · discernment · prudence · sense · reasoning · weighing · deliberation · consideration
perception
Mental interpretation of stimuli
- understandingMental comprehension of something
- discernmentKeen perception and judgment
- penetrationEntry into something
perceptiveness · intuition · foresight · apprehension · cognizance · awareness · comprehension · grasp · realization · clear-sightedness
- awarenessalertness, aware, attention, cognizance, conscious
- intellectintelligence, intellect, brainpower, mind, cognition
- wisdomwisdom, sagacity, sapience, discernment, insight
- witwit, witticism, quip, cleverness, repartee
- judgmentgood judgment, sound judgment, discernment, prudence, judiciousness
- clarityclearness, clear, obvious, simplification, concise
perspicacityfoolishness
Unwise conduct
folly · poor judgment · shortsightedness · injudiciousness · credulity
perspicacityobliviousness
Lack of awareness
blindness · ignorance · unawareness · insensibility · inattentiveness