penetrative

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

adjective having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions
adjective tending to penetrate; having the power of entering or piercing

From Middle English penetratyve, penetratif, from Medieval Latin penetrativus, from (the participle stem of) Latin penetrāre (“to penetrate”).

Very soon, however, his look became keen and penetrative. — The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne
Her comments on people were saltily satiric and penetrative of accepted hypocrisies. — Babbitt, Sinclair Lewis
Though only hints and suggestions, they are, perhaps, the most penetrative and helpful Shaksperian criticisms in English. — From Chaucer to Tennyson: With Twenty-Nine Portraits and Selections from Thirty Authors, Henry A. (Henry Augustin) Beers

acute, discriminating, incisive, keen, knifelike, penetrating, piercing, sharp

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