sagacious
adjective
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The Surprising Root of Sagacious
You might expect the root of sagacious to be sage, which, as an adjective, means "wise" or, as a noun, "a wise person." Despite similarities of spelling, sound, and sense, the two words are not closely related. Sagacious comes from sagire, a Latin verb meaning "to perceive keenly." Etymologists believe that sage comes from a different Latin verb, sapere, which means "to taste," "to have good taste," or "to be wise."
Did you know?
Hidden Meaning of Sagacious
Sagacious entered the English language around the beginning of the 17th century and, for some decades, referred to perceptiveness of sight, taste, and especially, smell. One of the first authors to use the word, Edward Topsell, wrote in 1607 of bees searching for something with “a most sagacious smelling-sence.” Sagacious has largely lost the sense (no pun intended) of being keen in sensory perception, and now almost exclusively means "of keen judgment, discerning.” The upshot is that English has words for the state of possessing acute vision (such as far-sighted) and a fine sense of touch (such as sensitive), but lacks any adjectives describing an excellent sense of smell.
Synonyms
Examples of sagacious in a Sentence
Hendrik Hertzberg, New Yorker, 18 Dec. 2000
It has allowed him to pre-empt conservative political attacks, to appear sagacious despite his inexperience …
—Alan Tonelson, Atlantic, June 1993
With commendably sagacious foresight, I sneaked spoils as well to the elders of key Judean cities whose good will I was cultivating for the future …
—Joseph Heller, God Knows, 1984
It has been suggested that we go to sleep at night because it is then too dark to do anything else; but owls, who are a venerably sagacious folk, do not sleep in the night-time.
—James Stephens, The Crock of Gold, 1912
a sagacious critique of the current social climate in our nation
Joe Leydon, Variety, 29 Feb. 2024
Foster a balanced approach: While data can provide valuable insights at scale, integrating human judgment and industry expertise ensures a sagacious, well-rounded, and likely more ethical strategic investment approach.
—Douglas B. Laney, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2024
See all Example Sentences for sagacious 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sagacious.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near sagacious
Cite this Entry
“Sagacious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sagacious. Accessed 2 May. 2024.
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sagacious
adjective
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