Dictionary entry

Sagacious

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Sa‐ga″cious (?), a. [L. sagax, sagacis, akin to sagire to perceive quickly or keenly, and probably to E. seek. See Seek, and cf. Presage.] 1. Of quick sense perceptions; keen-scented; skilled in following a trail.

Sagacious of his quarry from so far. Milton.

2. Hence, of quick intellectual perceptions; of keen penetration and judgment; discerning and judicious; knowing; far-sighted; shrewd; sage; wise; as, a sagacious man; a sagacious remark.

Instinct... makes them, many times, sagacious above our apprehension. Dr. H. More.

Only sagacious heads light on these observations, and reduce them into general propositions. Locke.

Syn. — See Shrewd.

— Sa‐ga″cious‐ly, adv. — Sa‐ga″cious‐ness, n.