Some wicked wits have libel'd all the fair.
With matchless —— they style a wife
The dear-bought curse, and lawful plague of life.
With brazen —— he denied the most indisputable facts.
ASTUTE ([page 62]).
QUESTIONS.
1. From what language is acute derived? What is its distinctive sense? 2. From what language is keen derived? What does it distinctively denote? 3. From what language is astute derived, and what was its original meaning? 4. In present use what does astute add to the meaning of acute or keen? 5. What does astute imply regarding the ulterior purpose or object of the person who is credited with it?
EXAMPLES.
You statesmen are so —— in forming schemes!
He taketh the wise in their own ——ness.
The most —— reasoner may be deluded, when he practises sophistry upon himself.